Shattered Image
by Lightning-Dono
Summary: Rick is trying his hardest to keep his friendships up along with helping Karen to get out of her alcohol addiction. But what happens when Jack violates Ann and his father comes back? [FINISHED] Sequel coming soon
1. Shattered

Lightning-Dono: For the fun of it, I decided to depict a Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral town type thing for all of you fans out there. I was bored, and this fanfic is going to get me out of this idiotic phase of Writer's Block. Except, this fanfic is from Rick's point of view. Now, let me explain a bit of background of why I decided to write this fanfic from RICK'S PoV. Tons of dialogue, though. I love making my fanfics filled with social animals.   
  
Everyone seems to dislike Rick--everyone says he's ugly (for goodness sakes, he's a CG character!), dorky, overly-protective...But I see a light in him. Next to Cliff, he's one of my favorite HM people. I seem to like people that no one else does. Yet, you'd understand how he feels if...You'll see. Apparently, Rick's world is literally falling apart in this fanfic.  
  
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I was watching my mother, Lillia, count the money inside the cash register. I sat there, slumped on the table with a hand supporting my head.   
  
"Rick, hun, could you feed the chickens? They've been quite restless for a bit now. I think they'd like some food," she told me with a hint of pride in her voice. I wasn't exactly my cheery self, though. My younger sister, Popuri, had been gone for days on end. I couldn't understand what she saw in that Kai. He was the last person I'd ever expect my sister to take a liking to, but there she was, being a complete flirt. The fact that she wasn't back yet, though, worried me. I was beginning to suspect that Kai had taken her away on a ship...  
  
"Rick! Oy, can't you hear me?" Jack was running up a back road that led to my chicken farm...Or rather, my whole family's. I turned towards him slowly and forced a smile onto my face. Jack blinked at me cluelessly and held out something to me. A sweet, juicy red apple.  
  
"Uh, thanks," I said. Recieving the apple was a first. Jack had always avoided me before. But right now, I had more to think about than to ponder upon why he was giving me an apple. Usually, he'd give me sludge from his disatrous cooking experiments.   
  
"Is that all you can say to me?" Jack inquired, disappointed. He had expected more praise than just that.  
  
"Is there something special about this apple?" I held the apple to my eye closely, but it hit my glasses and they were jammed at a very uncomfortable angle at the top of my nose.  
  
"Nah, I just thought you'd like it more than that...black stuff I always give you," Jack replied, grinning. he was such a goofball. He made me smile.   
  
"Well, thanks...I'm on my way to town," I told him, watching his expression carefully for hints of whether or not he was tricking me. Perhaps he had poisoned the apple?   
  
"Same here. I need to stop by the store to upgrade my Rucksack," Jack growled, tossing his Rucksack onto the other side of his back. "It barely even holds enough to fill up a tenth of my Shipment Box."   
  
"Great...I'm heading there to meet Karen. She should be there waiting for me right now, according to the fact that it says 8:30 AM on my watch..."  
  
When we reached the front of the store, Karen was sitting on the bench, arms crossed and glaring at me defiantly.   
  
"I'm sorry I'm late," I panted, sitting down next to her on the bench. I pushed my glasses back up my sweaty nose. Karen didn't reply, so I turned my head to look at her. She looked like she was bothered by something. "I really am sorry if I made you wait too long-,"   
  
"It's okay," Karen interrupted loudly. Her voice sounded teary and made it sound like she had been crying. While I watched, I did notice that her face steadily turned deeper shades of red.   
  
"What's wrong?" I asked persistantly. Great, more things to worry about. It was bad enough trying to keep Popuri from going to meet Kai, but now girl problems.   
  
"I can't believe my dad!" Karen fumed, thrusting her arm behind me so it was resting on the back of the bench. "He's fought with my mom for the last time!" She pulled a can of beer from the inside pocket of her flashy purple vest and popped it open, taking a deep sip. I winced considerably watching her take in alchohol. I wanted her to stop drinking that junk, but she wouldn't take my word for it. To her everything was just a simple joke.   
  
"Karen, please stop drinking that when you're talking to me," I begged, not wanting to talk to an intoxicated Karen. She tended to get fairly violent when she was intoxicated, not to mention she consumed more and more alchohol while she was. Karen turned and gave me a 'I-can-do-whatever-I-want' look. Tossing her hair defiantly, she continued to drink it. I watched helplessly as she tossed the can into Jack's face and pulled another one from her vest.  
  
"So, Rickeh," Karen said dreamily. I inched a bit away from her, fearing that she might smack me.  
  
"Uh, yes?"  
  
"Did you ever know how much I-,"   
  
I fell off the bench after inching away from her. I knew that I was being very rude, but the way she acted while she was under alchohol influence didn't make me feel comfortable.   
  
"I'm sorry, Karen, but I'm not feeling too well...I think I'll go to the doctor's...Elli might figure out what's wrong with me," I coughed, pretending to choke on my own mucus. I dashed off, leaving Karen sitting there on the bench cluelessly.   
  
Jack followed me to Elli's workplace.  
  
"What was wrong with you back there?" He asked incredulously. "You two were this close to-,"  
  
"Jack, I did it because I'm scared! I need to get Elli to help me get off her addiction!" I yelled, spittle spraying the ground from my rage. Jack backed away, his hands held up infront of him pathetically. I lowered my voice. "Never mind. I'll just...go. You don't have to come with me."  
  
"I have to go to the beach and get some grasses, anyways." Jack cast me one last furtive look and strode off towards Mineral Beach.   
  
As I approached Elli's clinic, I watched the cheerful children romp around. I remembered how close Karen and I had been back then when we were younger. We'd play together so much. Of course, somehow she'd always be a step ahead of me with everything. Better than I was. But everything we did was for fun. I never thought that she would grow up and be an alchoholic that was destroying her life unknowingly.   
  
When I walked into the hospital (Mineral Town wasn't large enough to have too big of a hospital), I heard panicked yells and pained moans coming from the room in there. I cringed at the sounds.   
  
"Would you like me to help you, Rick?" Elli asked pleasantly from behind me. I could tell it was her from anywhere because of her sweet, honey-like voice.  
  
"I need you to help me with Karen. She won't listen to me about how much alchohol will do to her." I watched the blank wall expectantly, as though a stretcher with a screaming patient might just appear right there infront of it.  
  
Elli frowned.  
  
"This is a problem. She's quite young. Wait here while I check up on her files." She gestured towards the soft chairs lining the wall neatly, evenly spaced from each other. She then bowed quickly and hurried back into her office.   
  
I sat down on one of the chairs and buried my face in my hands, unexpected tears staining my hands. As her friend, I should've been helping her myself. But she wouldn't listen to me. What should I do? 


	2. Helping a Friend

Lighnting-Dono: Yeah! I have tons of inspiration for this fanfic. The rating is for future chapters just in case I decide to add things into it that would furthermore innapropriate for younger viewers. Uh, yeah. End of the brief description. Now on with the 2nd chapter! (R&R? gets on hands and knees)  
  
Just to let you all know--not everything in here is definate and I made up most of it. Or rather, some parts. The Winery NEVER sold beer in the game. EVER.   
  
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About five minutes later, Elli called me to the front desk. I stood up, raking my hair with one hand.   
  
"Rick, I have Karen's files and I think there might be a way to help her," Elli told me impatiently as I dragged my feet across the shining tiles. Noticing what I was doing, I caught myself in mid-step, grinned at her sheepishly and started to walk normally.  
  
When I got to the desk, I leaned over to look at her records slowly. Elli's breathing was clouding my glasses because I was leaning so close to her. She didn't seem to notice how much I was straining to see the sheets of paper attached to the wooden clipboard.   
  
"She's just 15...But she turns 16 on the 14th day of Fall, correct?" Elli ran her finger along the neat rows of typed-up information.  
  
"Yes," I replied, relaxing my shoulders.   
  
"That's a serious problem. She hasn't reached the legal age to drink yet."   
  
/Uh, oh/ I thought briefly, wondering how much trouble I had gotten Karen into. Maybe I should've just let it go. Elli continued to talk, not noticing that my eyes were straying to a spot in the ceiling and that I wasn't really hearing what she was saying.  
  
"...find a help center," Elli finished importantly.   
  
"Huh?" I said stupidly, shoving a hand into my pocket.  
  
"You need to find a help center for her," Elli repeated, sounding irritated. "If you don't, she WILL become dependant on the alchohol as an escape from pain."   
  
My eyes widened. I felt my right eye twitching in a very strange way.  
  
"O-of course," I said quickly, searching through my brain for things I could do with Karen to get her off her beer addiction other than taking her to a help center.   
  
"Yes." Elli fished an informational packet on help centers for certain addictions from one of the piles on the desk. "This is for your reference if you ever need help in finding the right one." She handed it to me kindly, winked and treaded back to the office, closing the door quietly behind her.  
  
As I sauntered outside, Stu ran by. He was one of the most energetic kids I had ever met. The best thing about him was that he always had a cheerful smile plastered onto his face.  
  
"Hiyah, Rick!" He shouted, as though we were old friends.  
  
"Good morning, Stu," I said, fishing around in my pockets in search of something to give him. I pulled out a paperclip that had been bent out of shape and handed it to him. He tucked it safely behind one ear and ran off, waving back at me all the while. I waved back, smiling.  
  
I found Karen inside the store, talking to her dad. I could tell that the alchohol still affected her from the fake smile she wore on her face and the drunken look in her eyes.   
  
"So, dad, would you like to go fish for some Cherry Salmon upstream this afternoon?" By the look on her face, it would appear that she was infatuated with her own father, but if you looked closely, it'd be the eyes of a young girl being posessed by the powers of something she couldn't control. If only she knew how to stop drinking...  
  
"But Karen, you never liked fishing," her father, Jeff, said, looking quite puzzled. He obviously didn't know that it wasn't really his daughter speaking. More like an innocent-looking substance that was canned. It had recently been imported in from somewhere else and was now being produced in the very town itself by Duke and Manna at the Winery.   
  
Karen hastily hoisted herself onto the counter, her hair flying every which way.  
  
"Oh, but dad, I would love it so much if we could just spend some more time together," she told him dazedly. I stood there by the wall, looking at them with unknown jealousy. Although I knew she was talking to her dad, I couldn't help but wonder why she had never said that to me.  
  
"Later, sweetheart. I really must get to serving these people." He looked lost and confused. Customers glanced at her nervously, as though hoping to rush out of the store as quickly as possible.   
  
Karen hopped clumsily off the counter, landing with a loud thud on the ground. She then lifted herself up like a zombie and strutted up to me.  
  
"Hallo, Rickeh." She combed my hair with her fingers roughly. I winced slightly as she attempted to keep combing even though there was a large mass of tangled of hair, which resulted in serveral of my hairs being torn out. I was just amazed that she even recognized who I was.  
  
"So...How many cans did you down while I was gone?" He muttered at her, not wanted her father to hear about it. I somehow just wanted to keep all of this personal. As if I already didn't have enough to be responsible for.   
  
In reply, Karen shrugged, making it look like she had just been zapped by something and was scrunching up her shoulders.   
  
"You really need to get to bed..." I led her towards the backdoor where her bedroom was.  
  
"Wait a second, Rick. Where are you taking Karen?" Karen's father called, carefully counting the change in his hand before handing it to the restless young boy who was purchasing some bread.  
  
"She needs rest. I'll lead her to her bed," I replied, feeling a great sense of urgency.  
  
"All right." Jeff punched some buttons on the cash register, turned, and nodded his head at me.  
  
When I opened the bedroom door, I was shocked to find it all tidied up. Her clothes were stacked in an orderly heap. I pushed it gently aside and set Karen on the bed. She instantly fell backwards, her head landing softly onto the pillow.   
  
"Is there something you need to tell me, Karen?" I asked her hopefully.  
  
"No," she repled contumaciously, turning onto her side. So, the effects were wearing off.  
  
"I'm serious. I just found out that I should be taking you to a help center for help on how to stop drinking." I pulled out the packet of information from my front pocket and handed it to her. Karen bolted up and grabbed it violently.  
  
"I don't need people to direct my life for me," she said simply, ripping the papers into shreds and disposing of them. I watched in horror as the pieces of paper floated into the trash can.  
  
"But you have to admit that you need help!" I exclaimed loudly. Then, realizing that there were still people out in the store, I lowered my voice slightly. "You can't deny that forever."   
  
Karen raised her head gracefully and looked up at the ceiling.  
  
"You know, Rick, when I first met you as a child...I always thought you were carrying too much weight on your shoulders. Everything someone said about someone you cared about you made your own problem. You never seemed to be enjoying things as much as you should've been." Karen's voice sounded like it had been caught in her throat from tightness and had just been released. "You looked out for me when you didn't have to." Karen laughed derisively. "But I never thought it'd come to this! My drinking beer isn't your problem!" Her face flushed crimson from anger. The tension was breaking. I knew it. Now it would come. She probably hated me now, for trying to help her. She buried face into her pillow.   
  
"...I was just-,"  
  
"Just leave!"   
  
That evening, I sat there with my mom, eating dinner.  
  
"So what happened today, Rick?" Lillia asked kindly, skewering a piece of broccoli with her fork. I thought for a moment, remembering what Karen had said to me.   
  
"Well, today I learned how much it hurt just to try and help a friend." 


	3. Call in the Night

Lightning-Dono: Poor Rick...I'll probably write something about Cliff once I finish this one and all of those other fanfics that I've already started...I'm having Writer's Block for almost everything but this fanfic. I just have so much inspiration for this one...Mostly because I want everyone to see that Rick isn't just a dorky bully. xD   
  
-My parents divorced today (6/21/04), so I'm kind of upset about it, so this chapter won't be too cheery.-  
  
-This might also be the reason why this chapter is so short. And might also be the reason why if you insult this fic I'll get really mad and you-  
  
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Lillia gave me a worried look.  
  
"Is there something wrong, Rick?" She asked, fretting that Rick might get involved with certain things too soon.  
  
"Karen...well..." I started, not wanting to put Karen in a tight spot. Pretty soon my mom wouldn't want me to be around her any longer...And we've known each other for so long.  
  
Lillia nodded slowly, chewing the piece of broccoli and staring unblinkingly at me.   
  
"Well, she...She's an alchoholic. I mean, she has been for quite a while," I added as I saw my mom suddenly stiffen. "And I was trying to get her some help today. But she wouldn't accept it and then she told me to...uh...go away." I was hoping for that to sound dramatic, as though a hero had tried to save a town...and had fallen. But it sounded more like a depressed husband talking to his friends about how his wife had said that she hadn't liked the curry he had made for her. Mom gave me a calculating look.  
  
"It was nice of you to try and help her," she said, trying to sound unaffected.   
  
I nodded agreeably.  
  
"Anyhow, Rick," my mom said, trying to start a conversation that didn't involve such violent topics. I could tell that she didn't like to disuss alchoholism since she felt uncomfortable about it. "What else did you do today?"   
  
"Oh, nothing..." I responded uninterestedly. The majority of the day was spent trying to help Karen and feeding the chickens.  
  
The entire dinner continued in an uneasy silence. I could practically hear myself chew as though someone were grinding rocks in the house.   
  
"Rick, you barely ate anything!" She admonished as she swept away the plates into the sink.  
  
"I wasn't too hungry," I answered, feeling drowsy. "I think I'll get to bed now. It's best as I want to maintain a constant schedule." I smiled knowingly at my mom, who smiled back sweetly. I knew how much she loved to stay organized, as I also shared that same joy.   
  
As I climbed up the short length of stairs to my room, I peered into Popuri's room, hoping to see her on her bed, fast asleep. Sometimes I wished I could just spend some more time with her and have some fun. But now I supposed that would never happen. I hated the discomfort of not having the whole family together, but that's the way it would have to be. I had always coveted that my mom had not fallen ill. Maybe then my dad wouldn't have gone to find a cure for her. Now he would never return, and I felt as though my world were falling apart. If he hadn't left, I wouldn't feel such pain and hatred towards him. But it wasn't his fault--he had wanted his wife to be healthy and filled with ecstacy again.  
  
I sat there in bed, taking off my glasses and reaching over blindly to turn off the lamp. As I lay down, a swirl of unanswered questions entered my head, to my displeasure. How did Karen get started on alchohol? Who cares. All I wanted to do was get some sleep. Why wasn't she accepting my help? That was her problem. I was just trying to improve her life. I buried my face into my pillow, feeling restive and partially annoyed. Why would she not accept my help? After all, it was the only choice since I didn't generally feel like acting out the part of an unknowing young man that finally discovers what's happening.   
  
At about one o'clock in the morning, the phone rang loudly from downstairs, waking me up.   
  
"Great. Now I'll never be able to get back to sleep," I muttered angrily, trying to block out the sound with my covers. I heard my mom's footsteps as she approached the phone. They were tired and heavy-sounding.   
  
"Hello?" She said, stifling a yawn. The person on the other end spoke.  
  
"I bet Popuri's calling, telling her that she's just been married to Kai. And that she'll go away forever because I hate Kai...I don't know why I hate him, actually," I grumbled, distressed. I seriously didn't know why I had hated him to begin with. I guess I just couldn't stand the idea of losing Popuri. She never did anything sisterly for me, but I just didn't want my only family to fall apart on me again.  
  
"Oh?" My mom said, sounding perturbed and concerned at the same time. "I'll tell Rick right away."   
  
Footsteps. Loud thudding footsteps that sounded like someone running.  
  
"Go away," I whispered. "I don't want this to have anything to do with me..."  
  
The door to my room creaked open loudly, and the stressed look on my mom's face confirmed my fears.   
  
"Rick, Karen is down in the emergency room at the hospital and they want you to come and see her." 


	4. Futile Promise

Lightning-Dono: Who would ever have expected that to happen? xD Yes, Karen seems strong, but did anyone ever think she would fall someday? I did. And I made her take the fall. Because...she had to and that was part of the story. Problem solved. I'm feeling less affected today, so I'll continue the fic. =)   
  
Okay, I guess I'll explain to you all how I feel about it, just to let it out once again.  
  
I actually feel pretty good about this divorce deep down. Why? I've always imagined that it would happen someday because they've argued and fought so much. And I never want to hear them yell at eachother again because they're married because they love eachother, but because they want to hate. I've always believed that they would stay together until 2 years ago when they started agrue more and more about things that no one would ever care about.   
  
But that's enough of my babble. I have a fanfic to write and I'm going to write it!   
  
Thanks for the Help:  
  
Fairy Friend--Thanks for the encouragement and remarks that let me know this fic was worth my time! I appreciate your help!   
  
Cassie--Yes, doesn't it make us all so happy that someone is finally shedding some light upon his personality and life? I don't know why everyone dislikes him. I don't think he's all that bad. But the again, I tend to like people that no one seems to like. oo  
  
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I bolted up on the bed, gazing at my mom through blurry eyes. Part of the reason that my eyes were blurry was because I had just woken up, and the other was because my glasses were lying on the nightstand, forgotten and unnoticed.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I...You need to go down there tonight. Karen says she wants you to come," mom said sternly, leaving me no choice. I sighed dramatically, but my heart was still beating at an irregular pace. She raised an eyebrow at me suspisciously.   
  
"You'll go, Rick. Because I don't want you to feel guilty about not going later on."  
  
"Yes, mom, I'll go." I nearly collapsed on the floor as I got out of bed. She closed the door behind her, glancing back at me worridly. I placed my feet carefully into my shoes and got up, fully dressed.   
  
While I was walking to the hospital, I felt as though I was just floating. My feet were moving swiftly and my eyes were looking straight ahead. The sound of crickets chirping, frogs croaking, and the humming of power generators in some houses were accompanied by my nervous whistling. It was a terrible habit, for it annoyed everyone as I was never able to whistle in tune. But it gave me something to concentrate on and rid myself of the apprehensive feelings I had inside. I heard feet shuffling behind me, but I tried to ignore it. Afterall, the clicking that followed the shuffling suggested that it might be a dog. And I didn't want to hurt my chances of getting to the hospital safely without being bitten.  
  
"Why, hello, Rick," said a voice from behind me. Panicking, I started to run, not looking behind me in fear that I might see a masked murderer standing there. This island was relatively sagfe, but who knew? The man laughed. "No need to run away. It's only me." I turned my head half-way to get a glimpse of the man's face. It was Officer Harris. I stopped running and stared dumbly back at him. That must've looked strange.   
  
"Uh, good...um..." I paused, thinking of the correct term for a time that was too early to say good morning for, but too late to say good night.   
  
Officer Harris laughed again, catching up to me and placing his hand firmly on my shoulder.  
  
"Where exactly are you going, Rick? Your mom doesn't usually send you on midnight errands, plus there's no where to go at night."  
  
"I got a phone call," I explained, resuming to my walking. The officer nodded.   
  
"Go on."  
  
"And Karen is at the hospital. They say that she wants me to come."   
  
The officer froze in a very unnatural pose. Kind of in half a step, his elbow at his waist and his heel to the ground. He frowned, but it was hardly noticeable with the dim streetlight.  
  
"Karen? Wow...She must've taken quite a fall. She's pretty strong for her age." The officer made it sound as though Karen were some crippled 80-year old woman.   
  
"She's not that old, you know," I said defensively, feeling my fingers clench into a fist. I wasn't exactly going to jump on him and start beating him up--I just wanted to show him that I meant business.   
  
"Whoa, there. I'll escort you to the hospital. After all, it's awfully lonely working on the night shift, so I need someone to walk with everyone in a while." He launched into an explaination about how he had walked with Gotz the other night and how excited he was about getting his house upgraded. It wasn't a big problem because all he expected from me was a nod and an occasional, "Yeah," and "That's nice.". But I was still wondering what happened. His mood seemed unaffected by my uninterested responses.   
  
We finally got to the Hospital.  
  
"Well, Rick, it's about time I got going. My wife would be expecting me." He laughed, tipped his hat foolishly, and walked off into the night.  
  
"Thanks for walking me," I said absent-mindedly as I pushed the door open. Elli greeted me with a grim smile.   
  
"It's about time you came, Rick. She's been having a fit."   
  
"Why is she in here, anyways?"   
  
Elli gave me that smile again and I started to hate it. I didn't need her to smile at me like that.   
  
"She's been having symptoms of heavy addiction and her liver isn't functioning normally."   
  
I could feel my throat tighten. Breathing suddenly got harder, but I tried not to show it. Elli obviously must've noticed me start breathing a bit faster.  
  
"You must be concerned about Karen, I know, but we can certainly help her. Here, I'll show you to her."   
  
I was a bit torn about making the decision. I didn't want to go and see Karen, afraid to see her in pain and her body destroyed. But I wanted to see her to give her comfort through whatever the doctors might be doing to her.   
  
"Come on, Rick. Time isn't going to stop for you."   
  
I followed Elli into the room, my hands behind my back, squeezing each other. As I entered, I saw that what I had imagined was much worse. Karen looked okay--with the exception that she looked like a lab experiment. Her lower abdomen had wires and she was wearing a pale sea-green night gown.  
  
"Hello, Rick," she said, her voice cracking a bit. She cleared her throat. "I'm glad you came."  
  
"Hi, Karen..." My voice trailed off.  
  
"Aren't you atleast going to sit down and hold my hand?" She demanded, sounding hurt. Had she really expected something like that? I wasn't an expert of what went on in a girl's mind, but I sat down on the chair and reached out my hand for hers. She smiled at me weakly and looked at the masked doctor (he was wearing a surgical mask).   
  
"I'm not diseased, you know," she said perkily.   
  
"I know," he replied, his voice muffled. "I'm just making sure that when we start surgery when we talk our saliva won't end up in your wound."   
  
Karen nodded, rolling her eyes.   
  
"They're replacing my liver tissues with a donor's. It's amazing what people can do now, isn't it? Back then, they'd just leave the person to die," she contiued cheerfully. "I do like flower's, you know," she added as a hint.  
  
"It's too dark to go out and pick flowers," I said defensively. "Besides-,"   
  
Karen laughed. A real laugh this time, not a sardonic laugh like the one she had given me when she had told me to go away. "You know I'm just kidding, don't you?"   
  
"I can never tell if you're kidding or not." I couldn't understand why she was so cheery when they were about to take her apart...Kind of. I guess it was just a diversion from her fears.   
  
"Oh, well. They'll put me to sleep. Oh, and it'd be really nice if you sat here and held my hand while they do it," she told me, grinning.   
  
Personally, I didn't want to sit here and witness the biopsy but she was a friend and I didn't want to dissapoint her.  
  
"Uh, of course."   
  
"Promise?"  
  
"Promise." I shook internally. Maybe I could just shut my eyes tightly...Then I wouldn't see anything. And what did she want me to be there for? She couldn't feel my hand--they were going to put her to sleep while they did it. Karen beamed at me like a little girl who had gotten her first award at school.   
  
"You're one of the best friends ever," she said approvingly.  
  
An hour later, they had injected the watery liquid into a vein in her hand and she had fallen asleep peacefully. I watched the innocent expression on her face. I clasped her hand tightly as I watched the surgeons get ready for the opperation. One of the men approached me as he went to wash his hand. I moved out of the way so he could get to the sink, but he stopped at me first.   
  
"Mr. Rick, would you please leave the room? We need to start." 


	5. Surprise

Lightning-Dono: Chapter 4 was kind of hard for me to write because I don't know anyone with a drinking problem and I've never seen what's happened to them. ;; This chapter might be a bit easier because...I dunno. I just get a feeling. Besides, I like the idea of shedding light on Rick's personality. I'm tired of people dissing Rick, so maybe this fic will get them to like him better...Hopefully.  
  
This chapter is kind of short because I have ideas for the chapters ahead and not this one.  
  
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"B-But I promised her that I would stay here and keep her company!" I sputtered, knowing that I sounded whiny and terrified.  
  
"I'm sorry, but you must leave. You've given her the comfort that she needs for now, but she must go through this on her own. It's the rules that the room must be isolated during surgical processes. How would we know if you're not carrying a disease or something?"   
  
"...Please, can't you bend the rules...Just this once?" I beseeched.   
  
"Young man, if I bent the rules for everyone if they begged me to, there wouldn't be any rules to reinforce. Now shoo!" He made a shooing motion with his hand, smothered them with soap and washed them thoroughly, casting me an expectant look over his shoulder.  
  
"Fine." I got up stiffly, squeezed Karen's hand one last time and exited the room.   
  
"Rick, what happened?" Tim asked. He was one of the doctors and most of the time, he tended to be quite emotionless and dutiful.   
  
"I was...kicked out," I said, trying to keep calm.  
  
"Ah. The rules. I see. Well, you best be going home now. Can't let your mom worry about you staying up late," he smiled, showing me out the door. I frowned back at him and walked out onto the desolate road. There were no cars on this island, so it was very quiet at night. I kicked up the dirt on the road angrily as I walked back home, hands in my pockets and eyes glued onto the ground. Just because they had some inane rule about not being able to stay in there while they did surgery I had to break my promise to Karen. What would she think of me now? She certainly was short-fused and wouldn't take it too well if she had discovered that I had just begged once to stay and had given up on it.  
  
When I got home, my mom was sitting in her favorite rocking chair and looking back at me through her bright brown eyes.   
  
"How was it, Rick?" She asked like a child would. But her voice was filled with concern. I stopped acting manly right then as I remembered how exasperated that surgeon had as he had told me to leave, how rude he was about the promise I had made. I ran up to my mom and hugged her. She nearly fell backwards on the rocking chair in surprise.   
  
"What happened?"  
  
"They wouldn't let me stay with her! Karen...She was so happy when I talked to her before they made her go to sleep. It was like she was finally going to find a cure for it all. And part of her happiness was because I promised I would stay and over-see her surgery and keep her company...But now I can't!" I sobbed unshamefully into her shoulder. She hugged me back and kissed me on the cheek as she would when I was younger.  
  
"She's going to be okay, Rick...Only a week...That's what they said on the phone call...You'll be able to see her tomorrow, but she has to stay in the hospital for a week for the tissue to heal in."   
  
"Mom, what if it doesn't work?"   
  
"Oh, Rick, don't be so pessimistic! They've done this tons of times before and it's worked everytime! It won't be any different with Karen." Instantly, I felt my pulse drop back to normal and I started to feel a lot better about the days ahead.   
  
"I wish Popuri were here," I said, comforted.  
  
"She'll be back. I don't know where she is, but I know she'll come back sometime. Besides, that girl can't live for a long time without her mother. She'll be back before you know it."   
  
I laughed.  
  
"I love you, Mom."   
  
"You too, Rick." She flattened my hair and planted a kiss there. "Now get to bed before something else happens!"  
  
The thing that my mom would never understand was that it was hard to get back to sleep when it was three o'clock in the morning and you were scared and excited about something.  
  
Over breakfast the following morning, mom was smiling.   
  
"Your worries are over, Rick! The doctors called in this morning to report that Karen is in perfect condition and she'll be out in a few days!" She was eating some scrambled eggs. I smiled back and sprinkled some salt onto my scrambled eggs carefully.   
  
"That's good news. I'll go see her today." I didn't know what to expect from Karen. A slap or a smile. She was an unpredicatable person.  
  
"Yes, and before you go, feed the chickens and run over to Barley's."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He wanted to know if he could come here today and take a look at the chickens. Wanted to see if he could buy some for his family for eggs."   
  
"Sure."  
  
Once again, while I was feeding the chickens, Jack stopped by.  
  
"Hey, Rick! What's crackin'?" He said, trying to sound as laid-back and cool as possible. I raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Nothing much," I replied, still staring at him as though he had been walking around in a pink tutu.  
  
"What? You don't like my new style of talking?" He sounded offended, but I had to tell the truth.  
  
"It's just not...you."   
  
"Oh, fine. Well, I got you something today, too." He searched his Rucksack a bit and pulled out a jar of honey.   
  
"Jack, why-"  
  
"Just take it. It's for your mom. It might make her better." He shrugged, shoving it into my face. "It's the least I can do for her."   
  
"Huh. Well, I don't have time to talk now," I said, sprinkling the rest of the grain into the chicken coop. The chickens scurried excitedly to the pile of grain and started pecking at it. "Look, I have to go, okay?"   
  
Jack nodded and ran off towards the beach.  
  
"Got some fishing to do!" He shouted vivasciously, grinning at me. I waved to him, tossed the empty grain sack onto the ground, and walked towards the Cow and Sheep Farm. Otherwise known as Barley's place.  
  
As I approached the house, I was knocked over by a strong scent of cow dung.   
  
"They could really use some cleaning up," I muttered, shaking my head. The cows mooed contentedly at me and continued to chew.  
  
I strode in through the open door and saw Barley standing behind the counter, counting his money with a thrilled look in his eyes.   
  
"Uh, Barley?" I said, breaking in through his personal little holiday.  
  
"Oh, yes? May I help you?" He shoved the money back into the cash register and smiled innocently at me.  
  
"My mom says it's okay that you check out some chickens at our farm today," I told him in a business-like manner.   
  
"I'll get over there in a bit. But first, I need to count the gold!"   
  
I shrugged and walked back out, forcing myself not to breathe as I speed-walked away from the farm.  
  
Finally, I arrived at the hospital, panting. I had ran there, relying purely on the vain hopes that Karen wouldn't be too mad.   
  
"What took you so long?" She inquired, patting the seat next to her. She was sitting in the empty lobby, somewhat slumped over.  
  
"I had to do some things before I got here."   
  
"Well, I want a word with you. Sit down." She indicated the seat once again. I sat down, resisting the urge to bite my nails in nervousness. /Here it comes,/ I thought.  
  
"Why didn't you stay with me yesterday?" She asked forcefully.  
  
"The doctors wouldn't let me stay. They say they can't bend any rules just because I made a promise."   
  
"Tch. Why listen to them? Like I've been meaning to say, and this appies for everyone, no one directs your life but yourself. The most they could do to you would be to maybe call home and tell your mom or something."   
  
I knew Karen would say that. She always told me that there was no fun in anything if there wasn't a risk to follow. But I never believed in that because I always thought that the only things that were worth doing were the ones that I couldn't harm others in. Besides, I wasn't the troublemaker I had always seen my friends to be. It was like I was in my own little world while they followed the crowd with everyone else and ended up being naughty and getting in trouble all the time. Looking at me was like taking a look at their future 60-year old selves.   
  
"I don't think-,"  
  
"Don't give me that 'You're not worth my getting into trouble' trash. If you mom reprimands you, it won't be something too harsh. She's a kind woman."   
  
"What I was going to say is that I don't think that getting into trouble is...Forget it."  
  
"I'm not going to forget it, Rick."  
  
"You wouldn't understand!" I burst out. Elli turned her head towards us from behind the reception counter. Anna, who had just walked in, glanced at us, probably thinking about what an odd couple we were. I sighed and lowered my voice.  
  
"You've always been a happy-go-lucky person. Never had a care in the world. You'd go along and do anything you wanted because your parents don't look out for you as much or care about what you're doing. But my mom cares. And I care. I don't want to grow up to be some person that gets thrown in jail at the age of twenty for nicking a crate of imported wine." I hadn't meant it to sound quite so offensive, but it came out that way.   
  
Karen gave me a look that made me feel like she were burning holes through me.  
  
"Are you saying that that's what you imagine I'm going to do when I get older?" She whispered dangerously.  
  
"Look, Karen, I don't want to argue about something so stupid all over again-,"  
  
"Rick...Do you know what? I don't care. When I first met you as a little kid, I thought you were way too nice for your own good. And too serious. You really need to lighten up."  
  
"Being nice is-,"  
  
"I don't give a-,"  
  
Elli advanced upon us and grabbed us both by the shoulders.  
  
"Why don't you two take this outside?" She suggested.  
  
"I don't think I'll be going." Karen sat still in the chair, not looking at me. I wondered exactly what I had done wrong.  
  
"Well...See you tomorrow."   
  
No reply.  
  
Getting home was boring. I didn't want to think about what had happened at the hospital, because it plagued me with a constant feeling distress every time I thought about it.  
  
I knocked on the door to me house and felt the door knob turn roughly. Strange. Maybe mom had taken some muscle building programs? Or maybe it was Kai. Great.  
  
"Rick! Great to see you, son!"  
  
It was my dad. 


	6. Finally we Meet

Lightning-Dono: It's summer vacation, so I can spend a lot of time writing this fanfic! I'm really getting into it! I don't know what the Genre should be. If you don't mind, review and tell me what you think it should be? I want to know what the secondary genre should be. Romance seems like a good start, but which other? Drama?  
  
(In this fic, Rick doesn't have that atrocious mustache that you see in the game when he get's mad, thank goodness.)  
  
Also, I'm sorry for not updating in a while! I've been having Writer's Block...For this one fanfic. This chapter is generally about Rick getting to know his father better. And probably why Rick doesn't have very many friends. (Everyone seems a bit short-tempered now. xD)  
  
BY THE WAY...Can someone tell me what his father's name is? I don't know...  
  
------------------------------  
  
I nearly fainted.   
  
"Dad? Is that really you?" I had to take look at him carefully to process the fact that he actually was my dad. He still had the light brown-dark blonde hair that he used to, except he hadn't shaved in quite a while.   
  
"It's been a while, son," he said gruffly, tousling my hair with a large hand. I smiled. When he had left, I had thought him to be a skinny man, clean-shaved, and determined. Now he still had that determined look, but he was quite muscular, tall, and looked like he had been attempting to grow as much facial hair as possible. He had dark brown eyes that looked a lot like those of a young child who was opening it's eyes for the first time to take a look at the world around it. His face was sharp and his eyebrows were thick.   
  
"I'm so glad you're back," I mumbled into his shoulder.   
  
"Yeh, but I'd better get you in so I can get a good look at you." He laughed and led me inside as though I were a visitor that hadn't been there for years.   
  
"I see you're grown your hair longer. How long has it been since your last haircut?" He glanced over at his wife and grinned. Mom smiled back, stirring something that looked like contaminated broth. "Ah, and you got glasses." He nodded wisely and laughed. I couldn't exactly see what was so funny about getting glasses, but instead of making the situation awkward, I laughed along with him.   
  
"So, how'd you get here?" I asked, turning the subject around.  
  
"Popuri brought me here."   
  
I blinked, waiting for the shock to spread over me. It didn't. Maybe I was becoming prone to that type of thing?  
  
"She...did?"   
  
"Yeah." He waved his hand towards the stairs carelessly. "She went on a boat to the mainland and found me. I must say, it was truly amazing. She's grown up so much." He smiled contagiously. Every single gesture he made that expressed his feelings of joy made me want to keep smiling. Personally, the sides of my mouth were starting to hurt. But it was like a disease--I couldn't stop.  
  
"Wow...Popuri...I thought she had run off with Kai."   
  
My father looked down at me in blatant concern.  
  
"Kai?"  
  
"Oh, he's...er...her boyfriend."  
  
He laughed again. That loud, explosive, infectious laugh.  
  
"She is quite an attractive young girl. I'm not surprised." His voice was loud enough to attract tigers from hundreds of miles away.   
  
I had never heard him talk like that before.   
  
Popuri rushed down the stairs, suspecting that he must've been talking about her.  
  
"Dad, what you saying?" She asked, her head cocked to one side in suspicion.  
  
"Oh, nothing!" He replied cheerfully, striding up to his wife.  
  
She smiled at him as she sipped the now milky-looking liquid. It was as though the water had been clouded with flower petals.   
  
"How is it, darling?"   
  
She held her throat lightly and swallowed.  
  
"It's not the best tasting medicine, but as long as it restores me to good health, I think it's the best in the world." With that, she set down the cup, walked over to her husband awkwardly and threw her arms around him.   
  
Popouri glanced at me and we exchanged sheepish grins. I guess I was wrong about her running off with Kai. I supposed she didn't hate me after all.   
  
Especially after that episode with Kai and I arguing at the beach and all...I felt slightly guilty after that and had been fearing the worse.  
  
That afternoon, I wandered over to Jack's house, having nothing else to do. I was surprised to see that his house had somehow gotten larger and the windows were covered by duct tape.  
  
I knocked on his door several times.   
  
"Heyah, Rick!" Jack grinned as he escorted me inside the house, shoving his dog, Kirk, aside. I stepped inside cautiously and leaned down to pet Kirk. Why Jack had decided to name his dog Kirk, no one knew, but I supposed it was best not to ask. Jack's intentions on this island were unknown as he never told anyone. It was like he had sworn to secrecy on that very subject.   
  
"Hey, Jack. How's farming going?"   
  
Jack shrugged.  
  
"It's okay. The profits are pouring in, though. Zach and I are best friends already!" He ushered me towards one of the open windows and indicated the turnips that were growing aimlessly over the field. The chickens were running free and 2 cows and a horse were grazing contentedly on a very adundant ammount of grass growing on the bottom half of the field.  
  
"Impressive," I said, observing the animals with amazement.  
  
"Very. I owe this all to Ann--she was the one who showed me how to keep the animals happy."   
  
Jack leaned against the wall and watched my expression. I nodded in approval and turned away from the window.  
  
"By the way...Have you planned on marrying Ann at any time yet?"   
  
Jack proceeded to pulling out an apple from the refridgerator.  
  
"Oh, she's still warming up to me, actually. I've gotten to the point that her dad knows that I like her. It's so thrilling!" He munched on the apple noisily and I cringed.  
  
"Ann won't like it if you do that," I hinted, grinning.  
  
"She doesn't care about a thing I do. She's a tomboy, remember? Hung around boys most her life. It won't harm her to hear this sound. Heck, she probably doesn't mind."  
  
My thoughts started to wander towards Karen.   
  
"Jack, I need your help on something."   
  
"On what?"   
  
That was when I heard a very high-pitched giggle from outside. I whipped around and stuck my head out the window. No one.  
  
"That's funny. I could've sworn I heard a girl giggle out there...Anyways, do you know how I can get Karen to stop being-,"  
  
That strange giggle again.  
  
"Girls nowadays," I growled, sticking my head out the window once more. I spotted a red-headed girl riding on top of Leih, one of Jack's cows.   
  
"Hey, Ann!"   
  
Jack went running out to greet her.  
  
"Oh, hi, Jack."   
  
Jack suddenly grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down.   
  
"Jack! No! What are you doing?" The young girl screamed. I stood there, frozen in horror as I watched him pull her down and pull her face towards his. I could tell that Ann was absolutely terrified.  
  
"Come on, Ann...You know you want to."  
  
"JACK! Please don't!" She was trying to push him away by the shoulders, but his strength was overwhelming.  
  
I sped out and grabbed Jack roughly by the legs, sending him sliding down onto stomach.  
  
"Rick! What the heck (A/N: The actual word was censored) was that for!?"   
  
"What do you think? Couldn't you tell that she didn't want to do whatever you wanted her to?"   
  
"She's my girlfriend? Don't couples usually do that?"   
  
I gave him a confused look.   
  
"Well, not forcefully!"   
  
"Maybe Ann doesn't want to do it infront of you! Who needs a dorky on-looker watching people kiss? You get off my property. NOW!" He made a violent motion with his hand towards me.  
  
"Jack, what you're doing isn't right!" I glanced over to find that Ann was nervously stroking the cow with one hand and the other hand over her mouth.  
  
"GET OUT! OUT!" I shrieked, tackling me.  
  
"Jack!" I tried to get up from beneath him. Apparently, he had gained some pounds since the last time we had rough-housed. But this was a more barbarous fight. Not some foolish, childhood fight over an apple or envy of one's toy. How would Jack's parents react to his violating behavior? That is, if I could ever get in contact with them.   
  
"What I do is none of your frickin' business. I don't care what you think of me anymore."  
  
He sounded like Karen. Those words stung like invisible arrows that had just been shot through my chest.  
  
"You can't-,"  
  
"I can do anything I want to! And if you know what's good for you and have the intellectual ability of your age and not your shoe size, get up and get off my property!"   
  
"I'd love to if only you'd let me up!" I snapped. He let go of me like a tiger who was surrendering a piece of meat to another animal that was superior. "Thank you," I said shortly and walked out of the gate. "And if I ever catch you doing that to Ann again, you'll be sorry!"  
  
"Well, you won't be!" He snarled at me from behind the gate.  
  
As I left the area, I started running. 


	7. Conversations

Lightning-Dono: Gosh, this is going quite well! Sorry for making Jack a violent freak, but I think he's got it in him under all of that nice-guy, smart cover-up. ;  
  
I tried to make this chapter humorous to lighten up the mood, but I don't think I succeeded. o.o; Oh, well.   
  
-----------  
  
"Hey!" Won shouted at me, waving a basket of goods into my face as I jogged by.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do you want to buy something? I've got TONS of things...And it's all apples."   
  
I gave him a wary look as I continued to keep up the paced jog.   
  
"Do you have any products that don't have the word 'apple' in them?" I queried, feeling the urge to punch Won away with my already clenched fists.  
  
"Well, apples are the lightest things that I can carry because I'm too lazy to carry anything heavier."  
  
I blinked twice and rushed off.  
  
"Won, I don't have time to chat today! I have something important to do!"  
  
Most unfortunately, Won was older and taller. Which also meant that he had longer legs and he was able to catch up to me. And to my dismay, he waved that wretched basket infront of my face again, with that ever-hopeful look preserved on his face.   
  
"Please buy something? No one likes me!" He whined in a most pitiful way. I supposed that it was only a kind act to buy an item from him--he was quite an unsuccessful businessman who didn't generally have the most superlative reputation around.  
  
"Okay, but just this once," I said impatiently, giving in. I withdrew my wallet from my pocket and fished through it. "How much?"  
  
"I forgot all the names. I'll just sell you this regular apple for 200 Gold."   
  
My eye twitched at this unmistakable rip-off.   
  
"Forget it," I said simply, dropping my wallet back into the fathomless depths of my large pocket and ran off.  
  
Luckily, Won decided not to be a nuisance and headed off to bother another innocent passerby.   
  
I promptly arrived at the Mayor's house, panting. I leaned over and supported the weight of my upper body upon my knee as I stopped to catch my breath.   
  
Soon after, I rang the doorbell. He was possibly the only person in the whole of Mineral Town that even had the time and money to install a doorbell. Gotz refuses to do them as he's had a very disastrous experience with electricity. Ever since that day when Gotz was nearly killed by installing electric lights into the home of Elli's grandmother, he resolved that he would just stick to the simplistic ways of 'back then'.   
  
"Come in," the Mayor's deep, but welcoming voice said. He let out a piercing whistle and started to whistle out a familiar tune. I flinched a bit, hearing the shrill, high-pitched sound.  
  
I let myself in and found that the Mayor was sitting alone in a big, velvet chair that was a stunning shade of blue that remarkably resembled the many shades of blue that the ocean held mixed together.  
  
"Why, hello, Rick." Apparently everyone knew my name now. When I had first come to Mineral Town as a toddler so my dad could inherit the Chicken Farm, everyone called me 'that blonde-haired youth'. Now everyone knew my name was Rick. I had surely come a long way.  
  
"Hello, Mayor. Would you mind telling me where Officer Harris might be?"  
  
"I wouldn't mind. He's doing his daily rounds. He should be somewhere on the road between Barley's place and Manna's house right now."   
  
This was slightly disappointing, as that road was quite long and while I was trying to catch up to him, he'd be moving further away.   
  
"Why? Is there something wrong?"   
  
"N-No. Nothing. I just thought we'd chat."   
  
The Mayor sighed depressingly.   
  
"I thought that you'd want to see me. No one has visited me in quite a while."  
  
This struck me as odd, as I had always assumed that with the ranking of mayor, you'd think people would be showering him with gifts and company. I guess all of this fine luxury was another shield between him and the outside world.   
  
"I...I never knew."   
  
"Well, everyone thinks being the head of this town is easy. But not many people have problems that they feel comfortable running to me with. I understand why you didn't know." He nodded like a wise elder who had led generations and generations of people through hardships and pain. "People are always jealous sometimes that I'm so wealthy. But money can only be counted to a certain measure...I still thirst for the scarce respect I rarely get." He picked a ball of yarn off the floor by his chair and tossed it from one hand to the other.  
  
"You like to knit?" I asked incredulously. I didn't mean to make it sound quite so rude, but it was hard to imagine a man of his age sitting down in a chair and knitting like an aged woman.   
  
"Something wrong with that?" He asked, removing his hat to reveal a shining bald spot. "I never cared much for all of those new-fangeled things your generation has come up with. I prefer the old life."  
  
Sometimes I wondered why he even bothered installing a doorbell. With his attitude right now he might as well be living as an Amish.   
  
Without warning, the door opened and in walked Officer Harris, who seemed astounded to see me standing by the Mayor like an old friend.  
  
"Why, it's a pleasure to see you, Rick."  
  
"You, too. Officer?"  
  
The officer removed his cap and placed it firmly on the hard, cedar table.   
  
"Yes?"   
  
"I need to talk to you about something."  
  
He sat down, acting a lot like he hadn't heard a thing. It was a strange sight--a police officer sitting on the floor, rubbing his legs.  
  
"That was quite an exercise!" He yawned. "I got chased by Ann's new dog all the way down the street!" He grinned excitedly. "Ooh, am I going to give it a beating the next time with my almighty stick!" He unsheathed a black stick from his belt and brought it down, hard, on the hardwood floor. The Mayor turned his head so fast I was afraid it might somehow whiz off his neck and land somewhere else.  
  
"Oh, Harris! What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?!" He demanded, unraveling the ball of yarn slowly with his pudgy fingers.   
  
"Sorry, Mayor," he apologized, placing the stick back into it's designated place on his belt. "I was just demonstrating."   
  
"Hmph," the Mayor huffed, turning his head.  
  
"So, old chap, what is it that you needed to talk to me about?" He got up and started stretching.   
  
"I'd prefer that we take a walk while doing it. Sitting down might make me a bit too panicky."   
  
The officer sighed, as though trying to earn my sympathy. It didn't really work, to tell the truth.  
  
"Fine, fine...It'll only be a second." He hurried off to some room, shut the door, and I heard strange sounds. Like fabric rubbing against each other.   
  
A couple of minutes later, he emerged energetically from the room with shorts and a Hawaiian shirt on.   
  
"I'm all set and ready to go!" He announced like a young child. No one would've suspected it was him with this attire and his playful attitude.   
  
We were walking past the Hospital when out came Karen, clutching her side with a slightly pained expression painted on her face. Had she been waiting next to the window waiting for the perfect time to launch an attack on me? Or had she just decided to take a small walk right when we passed by? Talk about strange coincidences.  
  
"Rick, I have something to tell you!"   
  
"Not right now," I pleaded, glancing up at the officer who was whistling merrily.   
  
"It's really important...I'll be sent to a help center tomorrow night in Ore City. But the thing is...I really don't want to."   
  
I felt dizzy all of a sudden, like I had been drugged. Too many things were happening to me at the same time. Or rather, to different people and it just worried me. Why did I always have this great need to take charge of things that weren't my business?  
  
"We'll talk about it later," I moaned. "But I need to do something right now."   
  
"See you later, then." She waved sullenly at me and walked back into the Hospital.  
  
"You see, officer, there's something Jack's been doing that's been bothering me for a while..." The 'a while' part was kind of a lie--I had only known of it this afternoon. Then again, time settings didn't matter at this time.  
  
"So, what's that rascal up to now?"   
  
"He's been harassing Ann. Kind of. I mean, he's been trying to kiss her when she doesn't want him to."  
  
The officer had been nodding pleasantly until I reached this part. "Why?"  
  
"How should I know? I was over at his place this afternoon and we were by the window chatting-,"  
  
"The minor details aren't needed. Just tell me how it happened. And how he did it," he added as an afterthought.  
  
"Well, Ann someone got onto the pasture and she was sitting on one of the cows. He ran out and started dragging her into a kiss." I shuddered at the savageness of Jack's actions. Ann must've been traumatized.   
  
"And what did you do about it?"   
  
I suppressed a weak laugh. What I did wasn't really of any importance.   
  
"I ran out and kind of...made him slip. Then he attacked...er...tackled me. Then he told me what he did wasn't any of my business and that I should leave. So I left and ran to the Mayor's house."   
  
The officer paused for a second, trying to think of something to say. I was hoping he wasn't going to say Jack's behavior wasn't appropriate because any sensible person would know that it wasn't. Although, from the looks of it, Officer Harris wasn't generally the most sensible person out there. Everyone turned their heads to look at him and his bright, tropical-colored shirt. The contrast was great because the sky was overcast.   
  
"I'll have to talk to Doug about this. It was-,"  
  
"But what can Doug do?" I let out an anguished cry. Ann wasn't of very great significance in my life, but she had been so kind to me during our days of primary school. Sometimes I wished Cliff were still here, because if Jack hadn't teased him to death, Ann would be with him. And knowing Cliff, he was probably the best person for her. No one deserved what Ann was getting from Jack right now.   
  
"He'll take care of it. Anyhow, it was nice talking to you today. I'll go to the restaurant and tell Doug. It's all okay when you've told me, Rick." He winked at me, although his eyes still carried that troubled look.   
  
As soon as I got home, the phone rang. I picked it up unenthusiastically and said, "Hello?" I was never too big a fan of phones. I preferred talking to someone face-to-face.   
  
"Hi, Rick! I was afraid that you wouldn't pick up the phone. It's me. Karen."   
  
Was this girl psychic or something?   
  
"I just got home," I told her, sitting down on the hard, wooden chair by the phone.   
  
"Great. I caught you, then. What do you think we should do about this? Tomorrow night they'll be putting me on some plane to Ore City."   
  
"Isn't Ore City a sister community to Mineral Town?" I wound the phone cord around my finger. I always needed something to do, despite the fact that I was talking on the phone about something that might determine my future love life.   
  
"I'm not sure, but seriously, I do NOT want to go!" She put so much emphasis on the word 'not' that I had to hold the phone away from my ear.  
  
"Okay, okay. Who's the coordinator of all this?"  
  
"What?"   
  
"The person who wants to put you on a plane and send you to Ore City?"  
  
"Elli, Tim, my mom, and my dad recommended that place."   
  
"I'll take to them. Soften them up to you a little. I think I have an idea." I smiled inwardly. I did have a fairly good plan.   
  
"I hope it works," she answered, a hint of thoughtfulness in her voice. "I'll talk to you later. I need to go take some pills that I'm on. It'll help the new liver tissue heal in."   
  
I could almost imagine Karen making a face at the pills awaiting her.  
  
"Good. Bye, Karen!"   
  
"Bye."   
  
I hung up and rubbed my hands together.  
  
"So, who was that?" A voice from the staircase asked. I turned to face my father, who had obviously been eavesdropping on my conversation. In this situation, I couldn't say "Nobody" because he must've heard me say 'Karen'.   
  
"It was Karen."  
  
"And who might that be?"  
  
The 'nosey-trait' must've run throughout my whole family. He was just another victim of this inherited trait.  
  
"A friend of mine," I said shortly, getting up and heading into the kitchen. To my dismay, he followed me into the kitchen and leaned on the counter with one elbow, continuing looking at me searchingly.   
  
"A girl?"   
  
I suddenly became very irritated. As I pulled out my glass of water, I spilled half of it on the floor because my hand was shaking.   
  
I had always been told that I was sometimes quite the hothead, but I never felt this way about one of my parents before. Then again, my father was still kind of like a guest to me still.   
  
I wondered how many boys out there were named Karen.  
  
"Yes, she's a girl. And now, if you'll excuse me..." I walked out the kitchen, past him. He looked at me in that horrible, 'I-was-mistreated' way. "Oh, stop it," I muttered, feeling the guilt make it's way into my heart. 


	8. Aqua's Help

Lightning-Dono: Poor Rick. First Jack, now his father. I always imagined his father to be quite young (If he ever made an appearance in other Harvest Moon games other than Friends of Mineral Town, I'm sorry, because I never played those!) and energetic. Oh, well. I'm excited to put Rick's plan into words. I know that the people in my fanfics talk a lot and I'm sorry about that. I need to get them to communicate because I want everyone to understand each other. I'll work more on description from now on...But that doesn't stop the dialogue.   
  
I'm not too sure about everyone's age in this game, so I decided to get an estimate. Here are the ages of the major characters (some aren't too major, but included, anyways):  
  
Rick - 16 (seems a bit old, doesn't it? ; )  
  
Karen - 15  
  
Popuri - 15  
  
Lillia - Late 30s, early 40s  
  
Rick and Popuri's Father - Late 30s, early 40s   
  
Jack - 15 (I originally put 14, but I don't think it's proper to marry when you're 14 unless you lived way back then.)  
  
Ann - 15  
  
(A/N: When I finished this chapter, I realized that it was really stupid. I'm sorry about this and I promise you that the future chapters won't be quite as horrible!)   
  
---------  
  
The following morning, I was quick and hasty to get out of bed. Throwing my sheets messily on top of the mattress, I rushed downstairs to find my mother making pancakes.  
  
"Homemade!" She told me happily, placing a plate of steaming, golden wonders infront of me.   
  
"Thank you, Mom," I said, pouring a bit too much syrup onto my pancakes.   
  
"Save some for the others," she teased wholeheartedly. The herbs that dad had brought back was making her feel better, obviously. And for that, I was thankful. I supposed that I owed him an apology for what I did to him yesterday, but he probably understood. He'd probably say "It's just that age, Rick."   
  
"Heh, I will." Putting my fork and knife into good use, I devoured the pancakes in five minutes. And that was right when Popuri came parading down the stairs, dad behind her. "Got to go, everyone!" I announced, charging out the door like an angry bull.   
  
"My my, I wonder what's gotten into him," mom wondered, setting down plates infront of Popuri and her beloved husband.   
  
"It's just the age," dad joked.   
  
If I was going to save Karen from her soon-to-come fate, I had to hurry. Then again, not very many places were open at this time, so I kept up a paced walk. Today, I was wearing something other than my usual blue long-sleeve, jeans, and a green apron thing. It was bright and sunny outside, so I thought I'd wear a white short-sleeve with some jeans. Hey, it was a change. My wardrobe majorly consisted of those dreaded green apron things, those long-sleeve blue shirts, and jeans.   
  
Half way to the store, I remembered that I had forgotten to feed the chickens. Then again, I never got out the grain, either. I was going to get it when I came back home, but it was better than abandoning Karen and letting her get taken away to some other city.   
  
When I arrived at the store, the windows were shut and the lights were off. Aren't all stores supposed to have their lights on, even if they were closed to help officers detect any robberies? Oh, well. I knocked loudly on the door. Or rather, slammed my fist into the door repeatedly. Jeff, Karen's father, eventually opened the door.   
  
"What brings you here at this hour?" He asked, rubbing his left eye with his wrist.   
  
"I want to talk to you about something."   
  
"Oh, no." Jeff seemed to fear conversations more than anything.   
  
"What do you mean 'Oh, no'?"  
  
"I...uh...Nothing. Come on in." He yawned, unlocked the cash register, and turned on the lights.  
  
"I'm here to talk about the trip Karen will be taking tonight," I told him, making myself comfortable by sitting down on the wooden floor and shifting my position several times.  
  
"Oh. That." Jeff yawned widely again, adjusting his goofy new tie. It was white with blueberries bouncing around on it.  
  
"You know how many people will be at that help center?"  
  
"She'll be getting help and that's all that matters," he said in that short, simple way. It reminded me vaguely of the way Karen always tossed her head and said things in that same way when she got tired of my talking.  
  
"But they'll all be rubbing off on her with their old alcohol experience, making everything about it seem so much more blissful. I mean, you know, withdrawal symptoms sound painful, don't they? Knowing Karen, she might run away."  
  
"She wouldn't do that," Jeff argued confidently.  
  
"How would you know that. Like Karen always says, no one controls your life. Even if you make her promise, it's not completely confidential."  
  
Jeff thought about this for a few moments. I brushed my bangs from my face and watched him hopefully.  
  
"She's getting help. What more could she want?"  
  
"Freedom."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Freedom. She'll want to have her freedom. Tell you what, Mr..." I never really found out his last name.   
  
"Just call me Jeff," he replied, adjusting his belt.  
  
"Jeff. If you don't send her to the help center, then I'll help her. On my own. I know I can."   
  
"How can I trust you?"  
  
"How can you not trust me? I've been Karen's friend since...Who knows when?"  
  
Jeff sighed.  
  
"Feisty little one, aren't you? I'll tell her mother and those people at the hospital. I'll call off her flight and we'll see what we can do about that."  
  
Jeff turned back to look at me through strangely angry eyes. "And if you do anything to corrupt her mind and get her into an even worse habit or addiction, you'll be dealing with me."  
  
He walked back into the bedroom, glaring at me as though he feared a several meter walk to the Hospital to deliver the message.   
  
I ran all the way back home to feed the chickens, who seemed ecstatic to see me.   
  
"Forgive me just this once, okay?" I pleaded to them quietly in a soothing voice as I sprinkled grain onto the ground. They clucked in a delighted way and gobbled up the grain after pecking at it. I smiled at the little feathery creatures that I had spent most of my life feeding, caring for, and worrying about. It was quite a relief to know that they still trusted me, even if I had skipped out on them and come back later to feed them, like they mattered less.   
  
"Where were you?" A sweet voice behind me demanded. I turned around to see Popuri with her hands on her hips and frowning. Despite the belligerent cover, she still used that sweet voice that she used every day to greet people.   
  
"I was at the store," I admitted, leaning down to stroke one of the chickens as she paced by.  
  
"The store isn't open yet."  
  
"Well, I had to help Karen SOMEHOW. She's being sent to a help center to aid her in getting off her alcoholism. Now, I'll be the one to help her."  
  
I watched as Popuri's expression softened and she leaned down next to me. I wanted to whisk her off her feet and tell her how much she had worried me when she left. But I didn't do that.  
  
"That's nice of you. Mom sent me out to look for you."  
  
"Okay."   
  
She got up and left for the Goddess Pond where she went every morning to chat with Ann about whatever girls chatted about nowadays. I decided to go and pay Ann a visit at the pond, just to tell her that I was sorry for letting Jack go as far as trying to forcefully kiss her yesterday. I got up, brushed myself off, and went inside the house first. Barley was standing behind the counter, talking to my mom. Mom spotted me walking in and in an instant had me caught up in a warm hug.  
  
"Oh, Rick, I'm so glad you're back! You had your father and I worried sick!" I wrapped my arms around her waist and squeezed, even though the cause of the worry was unknown to me. I didn't think being gone for just a couple of hours would frighten them.   
  
"It's okay mom. I didn't get kidnapped...Or...I didn't run away..."  
  
"Good. Because I don't want to be missing you, too. Popuri's gone most of the time now." Mom sighed in a heartbroken way.  
  
"You have dad," I pointed out intelligently.  
  
"Yes, but he's just not the same. He's got too much energy, so I've made him go outside and get some jobs done." She chuckled and went back to conversing with Barley. You'd think that with that many customers he'd be busy taking care of his farm. But I guess one does get tired of making sure one's animals are in tip-top shape. I sure did.   
  
I found Ann and Popuri standing by the Goddess Pond, both standing on opposite sides of the pond. Well, as opposite as they could get, as a rock wall surrounded half of the pond. Ann scowled at the pond and continually threw bamboo shoots into the pond, like she was expected something to come out.   
  
"I told you that you need to be patient about it!" Popuri yelled to Ann.   
  
"What are you guys doing?" I cut in, standing a foot away from Ann.  
  
"We're figuring out the best way and place to throw items into the pond so the Harvest Goddess will come out. We haven't gotten any luck so far." Ann dropped all of her Bamboo Shoots in frustration.  
  
"Here, let me try," I said, removing a flower with my index and middle finger gently from the ground.   
  
"Rick, don't kill the flower!" Popuri chided, running over.   
  
"I'm not. I'm demonstrating how to get the Harvest Goddess to come out." I tossed the flower into the pond, mentally praying that she would come out. A petal separated from the flower. Another petal.   
  
Suddenly, there was a small splash and the petals flew everywhere.  
  
"Hello, Rick, would you like a wish granted?"  
  
I absolutely glowed as Popuri and Ann glared at me enviously.   
  
"Of course..."  
  
"How insensitive of you!" Popuri breathed.  
  
"Be quiet, I've done this tons of times before. That's why she's advanced onto granting me wishes," I muttered out of the corner of my mouth.   
  
"Then I will grant you a wish. Who do you love outside of your family? A girl, if you please. A young one."  
  
I heard Popuri and Ann both draw a collective breath. I was almost sure that they were going to pelt me with questions and tease me when this was done with.  
  
"...ren."  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"...Karen..."  
  
To my surprise, I didn't hear any stifled giggles. All I heard were birds chirping in the background, Ann letting out a sigh of relief, and Popuri's breathing continuing where it had left off.  
  
"I see." The goddess waved her arms around in the most stunning ways, suggesting that she was most flexible and magical. She then ended this little presentation with a very strange pose. Her head was tossed back, her hair falling from the buns on the top of her head and her arms raised up to the heavens. "Karen now loves you more," she concluded, disappearing underwater again, giving us one last warm smile.  
  
"How sweet!" Popuri sighed romantically and picked up a flower. "Maybe she can make Kai stay for all four seasons!" She cast me a meaningful look and tossed the flower in.   
  
"And maybe she can make Cliff come back!" Ann chimed in, also removing a lovely violet flower from the ground.   
  
I guess I couldn't tell Ann what I wanted to. By the looks of it, she didn't want to have anything to do with Jack, much less reminisce about what he had done. So, as I left, I thought I'd pay Karen a small visit, just to celebrate a bit over the fact that she wasn't going to fly to Ore City...Hopefully.  
  
Unfortunately, I had to get past her mother and father first.  
  
"What do you intend to do with her?" Jeff demanded.  
  
"Yes, what?" Sasha, Karen's mother and Jeff's beloved wife, echoed.  
  
I thought they were going to trust me, but I guess it wasn't going to be that easy. "I'll show her that there's more to life than alcohol, of course." I replied, thinking quickly about how I would be able to do that. It wasn't very easy to persuade Karen into thinking things that she didn't want to think about.  
  
"And how exactly will you do that?" Jeff inquired, smirking at me. I wondered what exactly he was getting at. He probably knew that I couldn't understand that. I hesitated a bit before answering, afraid that I would say something that would make them change their minds and switch the plans around.   
  
"Well, I'd start off by getting her to know some new people around the town. Get her to extend her relationships a bit. Then start her on some really interesting activities. Show her the wildlife...You know, things like that to keep her away from using alcohol as a replacement for boredom." I shrugged helplessly as they meandered upon this information. Jeff sighed and shook his head.  
  
"Sasha, why is it that today's children are to brilliant that they even stump me? Then it's set. You'll be responsible for what she does most of the time when she's around you. And if I find out that you've gotten her into...uh...NARCOTICS or something, then you'll really get it!"  
  
"Oh, and Rick? She's at the hospital right now. You should see her there." Sasha smiled at me and left.   
  
"Okay."  
  
I stepped outside, just to be greeted a rambunctious fight between several kids. Stu and May were standing on one side of a tree and Manna and Duke's nephew and niece, Kane and Rose, were standing on the other side. The bad thing was that Kane and Rose were only 5. I shook my head and prodded on to the hospital.   
  
I was greeted by a very joyful smile. Atleast Karen was pleased about it.  
  
"Rick, how did you ever persuade them? This is so wonderful! But..." Karen paused for a second, not knowing if she should tell me this or not. "I snuck in a beer this morning in my room," she confided, swallowing hard.   
  
"Why did you do that?" I asked, going pale. This was going to be harder than I thought. How would I get her off alcohol if I can't see what she was doing in her room?   
  
"It's so hard!" She exclaimed, stomping a foot on the ground. She was no longer clutching her waist. I supposed that was a sign that the tissue was healing in.   
  
"I have plans already. If Elli permits it I can take out outside..."  
  
"She says I can go outside and walk now, but if I fall or hurt myself, it's none of her responsibility and she shouldn't be placed under and pressure through that."  
  
"Good. I'll make sure you'll be okay."  
  
We headed outside, rounded out behind the church, and to the Harvest Sprite's hut. Aqua was the only one in there.  
  
"Hey, Aqua, what are you doing her all by yourself?" I asked kindly, leaning over. Karen was observing the decorations on the wall that looked so wonderful and merry.   
  
"They sure know how to put all of this stuff up," she commented, looking at the spare hats that were lined neatly along the wall on hooks.  
  
"Thank you, Madame. Jack hired out all of the other Sprites. I'm the only one left." Aqua's eyes were a periwinkle blue with flecks of silver in them, making them have a very mystical aura about them.  
  
"I have something for you to do, Aqua," I told him. Karen boldly pulled out one of the tiny chairs and sat on them. They were actually quite sturdy for being so small.   
  
"Well, you've given me tons of things," the sprite said thoughtfully. He had to be my favorite sprite, being shy and cute like that. "Sure."  
  
"Is it okay if you go over to Karen's place every night and stay there in her room with her? I need to make sure she doesn't sneak any drinks."   
  
I heard Karen grumble a bit about how I was spreading my overly protective ways to her.   
  
"Of course, Master Rick!" He squealed, delighted.  
  
"Please, call me Rick, won't you?"   
  
"All right, Mas- um, Rick." He tipped his hat shyly and ran outside to tend to the young trees that were just growing slowly out of the ground.   
  
---------  
  
About Manna and Duke's niece and nephew. The names came from a couple of Fullmetal Alchemist characters, but just pronounce them as you would in English. I suppose they're just vacationing there for the fall. 


	9. Lake of Memories

Lightning-Dono: I still actually don't know what Rick's going to do, but it's always fun to see what can come out of typing it out directly.  
  
Ann Fan - Thank you so much for those evaluating comments that you have me! Those have helped me a lot and I enjoy reading this. It's always great to know someone out there finds pleasure in reading my works! I'm a big fan of your writing, also, so don't stop those fingers! =D  
  
------  
  
"Gah, Rick, first it was Popuri, now it's me," Karen joked as we walked out of the small straw hut. It was like walking out of a rainbow, the hut was so colorful.  
  
"Well, you know how it is," I replied, listening uneasily to the insults that Stu and May were throwing at Kane and Rose. "I can't stop worrying about people once I know them. The only one that I'm not going to bother worrying about right now is Jack." I shuddered.  
  
"What's wrong with him? He's always been dedicated to his farm."  
  
"Yeah, and dedicated to kissing Ann, too."  
  
"Whuuuuutttt?"   
  
"Here, I'll tell you what happened."  
  
I explained everything that he had done that day. From when I arrived and every detail inbetween. Karen didn't complain - she always had a liking for stories, especially ones with an interesting ending.  
  
"Wow, that's harsh," she observed as we walked towards the small lake where Kappa lived. I just wanted to show her a simple thing that might bring back a memory or two.   
  
"Yes, I know. I don't know how Doug's going to take it when Officer Harris tells him about it."  
  
"Ha, if you had a brain that was as big as mine, you'd assume that he PROBABLY won't let Ann around Jack anymore," she teased, poking me in the shoulder. "That's a reasonable thing to do, isn't it? I mean, you don't just do that to people."   
  
"Right."  
  
We rounded the bend, both silent and listening to the chattering squirrels.  
  
"Karen, do you remember this tree?" I asked her once we were at the miniature lake. I was leaned on a tree, feeling the wetness of it's bark on my skin.  
  
"Not really," she admitted, surveying it with her eyes.  
  
Well, memories don't always come easy.  
  
"Don't you remember that time when we were climbing this tree and I fell off?"   
  
"Yes...You broke your arm when you fell. I remember you were on that really thick branch right there when I told you to turn around to look at a robin that was up in the tree. Then I tried to get to the robin and you told me to stop and then you fell." Karen glanced at the ground and kept her eyes there. I could tell that she was still ashamed about doing that.   
  
"It's okay. It happened a long time ago, anyhow."   
  
"I do remember, though, that I nearly drowned in that stupid lake." Karen let out the laugh of a person looking at funny pictures in a photo album.   
  
"Oh, yeah...You bragged to me that you could swim so I said 'Show me' and then you jumped into the lake. I couldn't swim to I screamed for help."  
  
Karen smiled. "And Kappa saved me."  
  
"I couldn't stand seeing you being touched by that green guy. He was so...slimy. Covered in algae when he carried you out, he was."   
  
"Heh, I smelled like fish food for a week. My mom was so mad - we were going to a wedding reception that week."  
  
I touched the water lightly with my fingertips and watched the ripples widen slowly. There was an astonishingly long silence after this. I could hear my own evened breathing and Karen fondling the grass between her fingers.  
  
Then, she broke the silence. I was glad, as it felt slightly awkward - I had no clue what to say.  
  
"You know, I still remember when you came to Mineral Town."   
  
"Seriously?" I flushed a beet red. Those years hadn't been very fun.   
  
"Yeah. You were always teased because you were just so...out there. You weren't really interested in what everyone else was."   
  
"I know." I watched the small lake nervously, watching a thorned vine slide slowly down in coils down into the lake. "Did you think I was weird, like all the rest?"  
  
"No, you dork, I always saw a strange light in you that no one else did. Inside you were actually pretty normal, it's just that no one understood you."  
  
I wanted this moment to last forever. Me, watching the lake with my elbow resting lightly on my knee and my other hand half dipped into the cool water. Karen, weaving the grass into a weak but fitting crown. The scenery and our actions were just so serene that it felt like it had been when we were younger. Of course, I was still constantly tormented by the fact that Karen would sneak drinks. I didn't feel that Aqua had very much power over her, as he was just a tiny sprite. Maybe he could teach her arts and crafts.   
  
A brown, furry figure thumped by me. But suddenly, the thumping stopped as it went around me. I turned and saw Karen holding the rabbit upside-down by it's cotton-like tail, waving it back and forth. The rabbit let out a surprised squeak and struggled to get away from her tight grip.  
  
"Karen, let it go!" I got up and tried to untangle her stubborn fingers from around the rabbit's tail. Through my years hanging around Karen, I had learned that she seemed to enjoy manipulating animals.  
  
"Why should I?" She drew her arm back, as though to throw the poor creature into the lake.   
  
"Stop it! Can't you see that it's just a harmless rabit!?" I started breathing hard, which didn't seem to scare Karen one bit. Not that I had expected it to, but it should atleast give her some hints as to what I expected from her.  
  
At that moment, I had a very impulsive thought that I didn't want to help her anymore.   
  
------  
  
I know, it was a short chapter, but the next chapter, I felt, needed to be on it's own and not added into this one. The next chapter, I promise you, will be be a very long one! =) 


	10. Fate

Lightning-Dono: Astounded by Jack's rough act in the chapters before? Then this one is one to read...Although, you really should read all of the chapters, anyway, if you catch my drift...  
  
I decided to speed up time a bit. Heh.  
  
------  
  
-Jack's Point of View-  
  
I had been told off. By whom, I had no idea. Probably Rick, that little, disgusting...thing. Either way, thinking of him just made me want to throw pots into the window, just to relieve my rage. I'd have to do more than that to cleanse my mind of the hatred that ate at the back of my mind for him.   
  
It had been a week since that incident, and he still couldn't get over it. The other day I had knocked on his door, meaning to give an apology for harming his little friend like that. I must agree that if I had been the one to witness a spectacle like that, I would have surely run to the police. But as I was the one who did it, I have a very biased idea about how people should and shouldn't be handling the situation. Anyway, back to the fact that I had meant to give him an apology. When he opened the door, the first thing he did was glare at me. I held out my hand, hoping that he would shake it, understanding that I hadn't meant what I had done. Instead, I got an action that was all too obstinate to be true for him. He smashed the door into my hand, wedging it between the side of the door and the doorframe. I watched as his eyes glinted with satisfaction and then he let me withdraw my hand before slamming the door back into it's proper place.  
  
Not only was I mentally hurt, but my hand also continued to throb with pain. Ever since then, I had to stick my hand inside a bowl of ice water for several minutes at a time to numb the pain.   
  
What I had done to Ann was just from watching my elders. Or, rather, the many elders that I had, which included a step-father, step-mother, and some others branching off from there, including close relatives.   
  
Let me simply explain.  
  
When I was younger, about eight, before I visited my grandfather in Mineral Town, I witnessed a number of painful arguments from my two blood parents, who didn't really understand each other. How they even ended up being married, I never sought to know. But, they hadn't always been that way. For instance, when I was about five-years old, they would go everywhere with each other, clutching each other's hands like they were on their first date. My dad would make very suggestive motions as I watched, not bothering to think of my future social life with other humans. I don't think he really expected me to have a social life, as I didn't have too many friends at my tender age. We lived on a desolate country lane, which meant that even if people visited, they usually only did it for fresh, non-pasteurized milk. Nothing more. The kids I knew were from school, but I could never get in contact with them since my parents prohibited me from visiting them.   
  
A few days before my eighth birthday, they divorced without notice. Not even telling me, my mom left in the middle of the night to marry some guy named Chad that lived in Tigerlily Valley. I didn't mind, of course. If it meant that she'd enjoy life more, I let it happen. But things only got worse from there.  
  
Whenever my mom visited, it would spur arguments between my father and stepfather. I often had to run out of the house to escape the shouting. Usually, I took refuge in the small storage shack behind the house.  
  
Pretty soon, my mom ceased to visit anymore, fearing those out of control arguments between the two men.   
  
When I turned ten, my dad got a new girlfriend. He was still fairly young, so he had a good chance with her. They'd hold their little meetings and dates at our house, of which I was forbidden to watch, so he'd put me on the porch until they were done. It was funny, actually. He never seemed to notice the window by the dining area. Or he had underestimated my intellectual power. Every other evening when they ate together by candlelight ("Very romantic," his girlfriend would comment.), I'd peer through the window when I thought they weren't looking. There, I witnessed a number of things that my dad did to her. Including kissing, hugging, and all of that mushy love stuff. Now I understood why he hadn't let me into the house until they were done.   
  
I supposed what I had done to Ann had been an act of showing off to Rick that I knew how to handle girls and something I had seen my dad do before. It didn't necessarily mean it was good, but I had wanted to do it for so long. I wanted to know what love physically felt like. Now it just felt so...wrong.   
  
Two long years later after living with a very anxious step-mom (She never had children to care for before) and an energetic dad, I moved to Mineral Town. But that was only after I had started to recognize her as 'Mom', and not just call her 'Step-mom'. She hadn't let me go very kindly after I received a letter that my grandfather had passed away and that the farm was available for me to tend to. To the day that I had left, she had fussed about keeping myself clean, not attempting anything dangerous, and learning to build up my social life. My dad was sorely disappointed when I told him that it was very important for me to go and inherit the farm (Truthfully, he should've inherited it, but he wasn't interested). I thought he had wanted me to be an educated scholar a few years ago. That was until he told me that he had hoped for me to be some famous football player and bring the family fame.   
  
And it all led up to this. Life for me had been completely perfect - Depression was rare, and I was pleased with the income I got from farming. That was until the incident. Ann no longer came to help me with farm work and Rick was still expressing malicious feelings towards me. I had told myself aloud that I had the Harvest Sprites to help with my farm work, but that still didn't heal that little mental rip that was present.   
  
Over the last few days I had neglected farm work and calling the sprites to help me. Instead, I sat on my bed half the day and thought about what I done very obediently, as Officer Harris had told me to do when he had paid me that lecture-filled visit. I wasn't in the mood for anything, so I thought that I might as well do something to please someone.   
  
There was a loud knock at my door, which made me look up. Getting slowly off the bed, I opened the door. It was Carter.   
  
"What brings you here at this time?" I inquired, rubbing my eyes with my hand as though I had just woke up. Carter gave me a very strange look.  
  
"It's one o'clock in the afternoon, Jack. I came around to inform you that Fate, one of your chickens, died this morning."   
  
My breathing stopped. My favorite chicken? Why did it have to be her? The young pastor nodded at me sadly.  
  
"I'll get you quickly to the church...She's already buried." He watched me curiously. "This hasn't happened before. You were always such a responsible young farmer."   
  
"Not really," a sharp voice behind Carter snapped. I moved my head to see that Rick was standing behind him, looking a bit haughty.   
  
"What a thing to say, Rick! Let's get him to the church to say his good-byes."   
  
Rick nodded, giving Carter a purely angelic look. I scowled at him and followed Carter with tears waiting in my eyes.  
  
"May we pay our respects to Fate, a chicken who departed this world early this morning."   
  
Rick and Carter bowed respectfully. I conjectured that they expected me to do the same, so I leaned over towards the tombstone, squeezing my eyes shut to allow the awaiting tears to fall onto the rock.   
  
"Fate..." I whispered. "Why did you have to go...?" My knees weakened and I fell to the ground, sobbing. Rick heard my secretive question that had directed towards my dear chicken. But Rick, being the jerk that he was, thought that he had to be the one to answer.   
  
"The question should be 'What did I do wrong?'!" He said venomously.   
  
"I didn't do anything wrong!" I lied, remembering what seemed to be countless days of sitting in bed and thinking, not bothering to care for my animals.   
  
"Uh-huh! And Fate just thought she'd drop dead in the morning!" Rick turned extremely red, which didn't make him look very attractive.   
  
"The only reason you're so bitter is because of what I did to Ann! Well, if you had just stopped and listened to me that one day instead of crushing my hand, you would've known that I'm sorry!"   
  
That statement left Rick speechless. "Well," he said, shaking his head. "Well..."  
  
Carter cleared his throat rather loudly.   
  
"I think we could all learn from this. Good day." Carter hurried off into the church, Stu following him in solemnly.   
  
I returned to my home, thinking of all the nasty things I could do to Rick. "Good bye," I had snarled at the back of his head as we split up. He didn't pay any attention, but he was probably steamed about the tone of voice I had said it in. That alone gave me enough power over him.   
  
But Fate's death had a lasting effect on me. I no longer wanted to mope inside the house, watching the day's whiz by like a frisbee with a timeline written on it. The first thing I did when I got home was feed the animals. Except for one, because I couldn't find him.  
  
My horse, Joey, was gone.   
  
------  
  
Interesting enough? I had to extend on Jack's history because I want you all to understand that he's not some bad guy who takes advantage of a girl's love. The next chapter should come pretty soon, so look out for that! 


	11. The Horse

Lightning-Dono: I thought that was a pretty intense chapter. I mean - wow! Anyhow, now for some answers to my reviews.  
  
Ann Fan - Thank you for the comments, once again! You have made my day. =) I don't mind reviewing 'Unwanted', it's a very good fanfic and it deserves all of them!   
  
Gabriele (sp?) - Thanks for the information on Rick's father! I would never have guessed that his father's name was Rod, especially after the many fanfics with his father as Basil...I was beginning to have my doubts about ever finding out his name.   
  
(Incase you all didn't know, this chapter is going back to Rick's PoV)  
  
-----  
  
I couldn't understand why Jack had suddenly fallen into a hole labeled 'Irresponsible'. I couldn't get over the fact that Fate was dead, for one thing. Being his friend and everything, I'd check on his chickens regularly. Just a week ago, his farm was blooming with a scent of growing business. Now I was having very thickheaded doubts about him being able to represent our island with his farm. But this was the next day, so I decided absent-mindedly that I wouldn't dwell on that too much.   
  
But there was some good news. Karen got her bandages off and it was announced that her new liver tissue was operating without trouble.   
  
"Rick, hun, would you please feed the chickens?" My mother's voice shattered the glass shield protecting my daydreams and I from the outside world.   
  
"Sure," I replied, as though in a very strange dream. I walked outside and greeted the warm sunshine with a radiant smile, forgetting about Jack for a split second. I filled the grain sack and sprinkled some in the chicken pen.   
  
"Bok bok booookk!" One of the chickens clucked, rushing over to the newly sprinkled food.   
  
"There you go, buddies," I said quietly, absolutely glowing as I watched them tackle each other for a change at the food. Some would find it strange to talk to chickens - after all, there was no hint that they could actually hear me. But it made me feel all nice and fuzzy inside, just being able to communicate with the animals, even though I wasn't very sure they understood a thing I said. I still supposed that they got the idea.  
  
"How long are you going to kneel there and gawk stupidly at the chickens?" Popuri asked me. I was beginning to notice a dramatic change in her attitude lately. But that was all part of growing up. I didn't expect her to be nice all the time, even though that sure would be nice.   
  
"I'm just feeding them," I shot back. "Why, is there something wrong with feeding the chickens?"   
  
Popuri looked slightly offended. "Fine." She walked off, glancing back at me with something that looked like sympathy and hate that combined to form a very unidentifiable look.   
  
I shrugged and watched as she walked towards the Goddess Pond. I still feared that Kai had come back a couple of seasons early to sweep Popuri away like a housekeeper would dust. Then propose to the already infatuated girl and the next thing I knew, they would be married. And I'd never see my sister again. I knew I was being a completely paranoid freak about it, but I couldn't help but wonder.   
  
Then, I heard a very self-proclaimed trotting. It sounded a lot like horse hooves clacking against a hard cement ground. That was probably because it actually was. I turned my head to see a mahogany horse trotting proudly down the road. I got up, tossed the grain bag aside, and ran up to it.  
  
"Whoa, there!" I said. It stopped and looked back at me, it's nostrils twitching strangely. It swished it's tail irritably and continued on until I roughly tugged at it's mane. This time, it growled and huffed at me crankily.  
  
"Stop, boy. Who do you belong to?" I whispered into it's ear. Yet again, I didn't know why I did that. As if it was actually going to open it's mouth and tell me whom it belonged to, although that would help a lot. It shook it's head boisterously at me and something jangled. A tag? I patted it under the chin and it lifted it's head tentatively. I reached for it's neck and found a metal tag hanging off a belt that was tied around it's neck. How creative. The belt struck me as familiar, but I couldn't quite place who I had seen with this belt on before. Besides, it wasn't like everyone has their own customized belt. Many people probably bought this brand.  
  
"Hold still, okay?" I told him softly, unlatching the belt carefully. The horse held surprisingly still.  
  
The tag read: "Joey belongs to Jack of Jazz Farm. Joey was given to Jack by Barley on the 3rd Day of Spring by Barley of Yodel Farm".  
  
Great. Now I could feel the horrid feeling of hatred towards the young boy coarse through my veins. I never really did care too much for horses because of a childhood experience, but how could he let his horse walk free like that? He probably didn't realize that his horse, as any horse was (besides wild ones), was dependant on the daily oats and sugar cube treats that he provided.   
  
"I'll get you over to Barley, okay? He'll know what to do." I led the horse by holding it's mane to the Yodel Farm. There, I was greeted by Stu and May chasing each other around the cows. That was definitely going to disturb their grazing (not like there was any grass to graze on to begin with), but Barley had more control over them.   
  
"Why, good morning, Rick! What brings you here this morning?" He asked as I walked in after tying Joey to the fence with a length of rope so he wouldn't escape.  
  
"Good morning to you, too. There's something you might want to see outside," I returned, watching as he got out from behind the counter and followed me outside.  
  
"What's he doing here?" Barley demanded, checking the horse for injuries and cracks in the hooves.  
  
"He was just trotting up the road. Isn't he the horse you gave to Jack the first few days of farming?"   
  
Barley turned away from the horse for a bit, taking in a deep breath. Now he was going to launch into a story? Maybe I should've kept my stupid mouth closed.  
  
"You're darn well right this is the same horse. Yes, I remember that day. I went up to him and told him that if he didn't grow it into a full-grown horse by the end of the year I'd take it back. And look! Three seasons later and he's already gotten it full-grown. Way before schedule, but you know. He was a fairly bright fellow. Despite recent rumors..."  
  
I let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't some long explanation about what he had observed over the last few seasons.   
  
"Yes. Fate, one of his major egg-selling chickens, died. He got rich off of her."  
  
Barley rubbed his bald spot thoughtfully. "I wonder what's gotten to him? Must be the pressure."  
  
"Must be," I lied, faking an agreeable nod. It wasn't that I didn't trust Barley, but he had always been very social and there was no telling what he would say to his regular customers to make conversation. I decided that we should talk about something else for a change - talking about Jack made me feel worse about myself. "So, are you going to return Joey to him?"  
  
"Under these circumstances, no," Barley replied sternly. "He shouldn't be letting his horse walk free like that." I smiled weakly, thinking about Jack holding me hostage in his dreaded house until I told him where his horse was. But not even Jack could be that depraved.   
  
"Have a nice day, Barley!" I called as I walked out of the proximity of the farm, heading back home.  
  
That's when I spotted Jack rounding the bend with a crazed look on his face.  
  
"Holy crap," I whispered, panicking. He just couldn't find me. But I bet he already saw me, so I just continued to walk towards him, resisting the urge to jump up onto a tree and hide up there.  
  
"There you are," he growled, using the ever-so-popular tackle and pinning me against a tree. So much for my great escape plan of bounding up a tree and hiding. Now he was using it against me. "Where's Joey!?" he shouted, grabbing a very pointy stick. Had this guy gone homicidal over night?   
  
"I have no idea," I said, feeling slightly un-heroic. Why was I going to risk my life just to save some horse? But certainly he wouldn't kill me?   
  
Jack breathed into my face continuously. "I know you hid him somewhere!" He held the point of the stick up to my shoulder. "I won't do much damage over some horse, but I will hurt you!"   
  
"Why?" I asked, speaking too soon. I remembered the horse races. He must've been getting ready for those!   
  
"You know very well what, dimwit! Now, before I injure you greatly, tell me where you put my horse."   
  
I shifted the position of my shoulder and kicked him in the shin. He obviously didn't notice that my legs were still free. He stumbled backwards and I made a run for it.   
  
Passerby must've found this scene very bizarre. A blonde-haired boy wearing a green long-sleeve and blue apron-like piece of clothing being chased by another boy that was holding a pointy stick above his head like an Indian at war. After running around the block, Jack's cap flew off and landed in someone's yard, revealing a mass of messy chestnut-colored hair.   
  
"I'm going to get you!" He shrieked, turning the heads of many people. He grinned apologetically back at them.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" I shouted back at him, crashing behind someone's pile of chopped wood to the side of their house. Jack, blinded by anger, ran past without paying attention to the pieces of chopped wood that were slowly rolling into the road. It turned out to be the ones by the Winery. Manna rushed outside and found me lying on top of the wood tiredly.   
  
"What are you doing?" She asked angrily, her voice shrill. I feared that Jack might hear, so I shushed her, getting up painfully as though a bunch of splinters had just been stuck into my body.   
  
"Jack was chasing me with a pointy stick," I told her, breathing heavily. She ran out and gathered all of the wood that had fallen into the road.  
  
"Why would Jack be doing-,"  
  
"He thinks I took his horse. His horse got free, you see, and I took it to Barley. Now he's trying to injure me-,"  
  
"THERE YOU ARE!" Jack's voice echoed throughout the whole town. The problem was that Officer Harris was just getting outside on his rounds a bit late and saw Jack standing there, holding the stick in one hand and advancing on me. He ran up to us and grabbed Jack's stick away.  
  
"It's no fun fighting an unarmed opponent, is it?" He said cheerily, throwing the stick into Manna's woodpile. "You, young man," he pointed an accusing finger at Jack, "have no right to be chasing Rick around like this."  
  
"He stole my horse," Jack told the officer calmly, as though they were best friends.  
  
Officer Harris frowned. "Why did you do that?"  
  
"I didn't steal his horse! His horse is with Barley because it was walking around free so I delivered it to Barley..."   
  
The officer nodded sensibly.  
  
"Jack, did you know the mayor has everyone's phone numbers filed? He has everyone's - including the one to your parents."   
  
Jack froze momentarily.  
  
"You wouldn't dare," he said, taking a step back from the officer, who looked as though he were about to go berserk.  
  
"And what makes you think that? Look, you owe Rick an apology. Plus, you're coming with me." He nudged Jack in the back.  
  
"...sorry, Rick," he said meaninglessly. He had gone pale and looked like he was going to be sick.   
  
"It's okay," I muttered blandly, not making eye contact with him. Besides, he didn't get that respect from me. "Besides, won't you want to call your parents after all this time?"   
  
He looked down at the ground. I watched those clear, liquid droplets fill his once bright eyes. He looked up at us with eyes displaying angst, letting those tears fall down his face like miniature rivers. Sniffing, he wiped them away stubbornly with the sleeve of his shirt.   
  
"My dad died last year. The phone number you have belongs to him. My stepmother already ran off." 


	12. Broken Feather

Lightning-Dono: Fanfiction.net was down, so I thought I'd continue this fanfic, even though I've run out of ideas...for now. I'm going to ask you to not comment in your reviews if anything in this chapter similar to something you've seen in some movie, because I've been watching some videos my dad rented to try and get inspiration. Probably just movie references, so don't worry. Not too obvious. =)  
  
This chapter -is- quite boring, just to warn you all.  
  
-----  
  
I was stunned for a bit. Jack's father was...dead? I was never a big fan of history, but this was getting a bit interesting. What had happened before he came here? All I knew was that his grandfather died and he came to inherit the farm. Why his dad didn't inherit the farm I never knew, but I felt that it was best to just let the guy be.   
  
"Is that so?" Officer Harris didn't seem too bothered by this. Being an officer he must've seen my many deaths and probably wasn't too surprised.   
  
Jack nodded disdainfully.  
  
"Well then. Come to the office. We have plenty of other ideas and contact information that we can check up on. Tons of sources. Come." He gave Jack's arm a hard jerk and in moments they were running down the road. I groaned. Left behind again. I decided to pay a short visit to Karen, who should be okay. Besides, I heard that Aqua was having a good influence on her. Every night he would tell her stories about his past. At first I thought that Karen would never take interest in that. She wasn't easy to please. Well, atleast I always thought so.  
  
I thought wrong.   
  
I had visited her a few days before in the evenings, to monitor Aqua's behavior, just to make sure that he was rubbing anything off on her. Aside from some obnoxious nose picking, he was good to go.   
  
"Tell me another story," she had begged her head propped up on her pillow, arms relaxing across her stomach.   
  
"Sure," Aqua had replied impishly, delighted that someone had finally appreciated his presence. I found his stories quite intriguing, also. But none of it could be real. It sounded too adventurous, especially when you take a look at the puny little sprites. Aqua had to sit on a stool for Karen to be able to see him from her bed, for goodness sakes!  
  
"I thought you'd never come," Karen said as I entered the store, glancing over at the many-pocketed rucksacks. Maybe those would come in handy some time.   
  
"I came," I said lamely, trying to sound funny and failing horribly. I never quite forgave her for putting the rabbit in danger, but I got over it.   
  
"Heh. Did you come to buy something or talk to me?" She caught my gaze as I gave the rucksack a longing look.   
  
"Both," I replied cheerily, picking up the rucksack carefully, feeling it's leathery strap in my hand.   
  
"It's supposed to be 5000 Gold, but since you're a friend..." Karen's eyes twinkled merrily. She knew that she and I were more than just 'friends'. We never actually declared it, but I had a feeling that we were destined to marry. The thought even scared me a bit, but I didn't mind. It was all part of the fun and romance. "4000 Gold."   
  
I turned pink. 1000 Gold was actually a bit, considering the many things someone could buy with it. Besides, I brought more than enough.  
  
"But-,"   
  
"Hand over the money, Buster," she said in a mock commanding voice, extending her hands towards my face with a sense of power that always seemed to surround her.  
  
"...Okay, then." I quietly handed her 4000 Gold and slung the rucksack over my shoulder like a professional.   
  
"You look like Jack," she told me. It was meant to be a joke, but when she said that, I had a bitter taste in my mouth. I made a face. "Okay, no you don't."   
  
"Want to take...a walk with me?" I asked. The urgent and knowing look on Duke's face from behind the counter made me uncomfortable. Karen noticed my hesitant voice and turned to face her father defiantly.  
  
"C'mon, dad." That's all she said to make her dad stop.   
  
I began to wonder it would be like once we married. Her snapping orders left and right and expecting me to fulfill them?   
  
"Well? Are we going on a walk or not?" She questioned, sounding annoyed. Now she was having one of her moods? This was definitely not going to be a fun walk.   
  
"We're going."   
  
We exited the shop, each of us slightly confused.  
  
"Where are we going, to begin with?" Karen asked. Always the one to ask questions. I pondered upon this for quite a while.  
  
"Well, let's go by Gotz's house. I just thought I'd do something."  
  
"Whatever you say." Karen shrugged and walked next to me down the road. Half way there, I managed to bring up enough courage to hold her hand, in which she didn't complain about. This was going to be a pretty good start if I wanted to get on her good side today.  
  
As we arrived, Ann was walking with an animal attached to a leash.  
  
"Hi, Ann," I said coyly. Karen frowned automatically. I guess I should've let Ann make the first move instead of blurting out the greeting.  
  
"Hello, Rick. I'm on my way to the Goddess Pond." She tugged at the leash expectantly.  
  
"Again?" I realized a moment to late that what I had just said wasn't a very smart thing to say. Karen narrowed her eyes at me with suppressed anger and wrenched her hand away from mine. I suddenly felt very empty deep inside.  
  
"Yes. I need to train Pickle. Good day." She waved gleefully and walked down the opposite path.   
  
Karen cornered me by the large stump by Gotz's house, enraged.  
  
"You've been hanging out with her all along, haven't you!?" She grabbed my collar like a bully would, shaking me back and forth. If I had the courage, I would've told her it wasn't going to help very much and that it didn't matter.  
  
"No! Can't I have any friends? At all?" I gasped for air, feeling a very sickening sensation in my stomach.   
  
"Of course you can! But when you said 'Again?' it sounded like you were there with her before! You were with her while I was in the hospital getting a stupid operation, weren't you? That's why you ditched me! You were going out with...her!" She pointed a shaking hand at the road. Anger management classes they had held back in grade school instantly sounded very helpful. Although I knew I needed it at times, Karen was probably highest on the list of needing it.  
  
"Why would I do that? THERE WERE RULES! LIKE I SAID!" I shouted. Luckily, Gotz wasn't home to hear this conflict. Due to stress, my face started to turn red. Karen mistook this for blushing.  
  
"THEN WHY WOULD YOU BLUSH LIKE THAT?" Karen thundered dangerously, her bright green eyes aimed piercing at my head. I was beginning to wonder if we were actually destined to marry. Maybe it was just one of my more realistic fantasies. Yeah, and they were useless to. What I had dreamt up hadn't been my future - it had become my weakness and downfall. I couldn't even stand up and argue with her anymore. All I wanted to do was that sappy stuff in my dreams. Never did I stop to think once that she would do this to me.  
  
"I'm not blushing! And let go of me before I suffocate!" I grabbed her hands and pulled them away from my collar, causing me to tumble backwards helplessly while she stood there, hands returning to her hips, glaring. "Yeah, right."  
  
I could believe her. Did she think I'd throw away our relationship away just like that?   
  
"Why do we always have to argue like this?" I moaned. Knowing Karen, she'd probably take this the wrong way. She did.  
  
"You coward! You leave my side, now you're scared? Forget you! I can find more responsible guys! Who aren't scared of girls!" She stomped away. I couldn't help but want to blame myself for those events that had just flashed before my eyes. But it wasn't my fault. Not all of it was. Karen was just too ignorant and hardheaded. And... She didn't understand. I still loved her, though.   
  
I had intended to tell her something I had been meaning to. But now I couldn't.  
  
Once again, I trudged back home without much life, the rucksack hanging loosely in one hand.  
  
"About time, Rick. You almost missed dinner!" My father laughed heartily and spooned some soup into a large ceramic bowl.  
  
"Where were you?" Popuri asked curiously, tucking the hem of her dress under the table and placing a napkin very formally onto her lap.   
  
"I was...out," I replied.  
  
"Well, get yourself a bowl, because this is the best soup your mom has ever made! Mmmmmm..." Dad slurped up some of it.  
  
"Oh, Rod, dear, I've made better." Mom placed a bowl for me on my place at he table, stirring the soup.  
  
I sat down slowly, my shoulders slumped.   
  
"Sit up straight, please," Mom snapped. I never heard her use such a sharp tone in her voice. But things were changing.  
  
After I ladled myself some soup, I tried to savor it, but through my worries, the soup was very insipid.   
  
That's when I heard a crack in my pocket. It wasn't very loud, but it was there. I looked under the table, pretending to tie my shoe, but I removed the item from my pocket.  
  
The Blue Feather I had was broken.   
  
-----  
  
Surprised? I'll let you figure out for yourself what Rick was going to do with Karen by Gotz's house. ;)  
  
Yes. That was a boring chapter, to say the very least. Short and boring. Don't ask me why Karen argues with Rick so much. She's just one of those very kind people who just doesn't know how to express their feelings without fighting. Well, that's how I see her as. o.o Oh, well. R&R! 


	13. Shards of a Pink Diamond

**Lightning-Dono**: I'm going to reply to my reviews. First of all, thank you SO much for reviewing, you guys!  
  
**RuRu **- Thank you for the compliment. I have much to work on when it comes to describing certain actions and such, but I'm glad you're finding it decent. =)  
  
**Evil Scientist **- I suppose I should focus a bit more on their relationship. As you can tell, Rick's making the moves towards peace and Karen isn't accepting it. Poor Rick! Don't worry, towards the end of the fanfic, everything will be just fine...I've planned it out.   
  
-----  
  
Early the next morning, I got out of bed, feeling sick. Not sick as in about to throw up, but sick as in not wanting to wake up and face the day. Mom was doing her weekly cleaning and she was just done sweeping up the numerous dust particles on the floor that always gathered beneath my bed.  
  
"You should be getting up just about now, Rick," she told me, gathering up the dust inside the dust pan and spreading the curtains apart. "Breakfast just started." She looked at me worriedly. I always woke up to my alarm clock...What was happening now?   
  
I tumbled sleepily down the stairs, watching my father spoon up what looked like a mouthful of yellow goop. Popuri kindly set out the food before me.  
  
"Thanks," I mumbled without much interest, glancing down at the scrambled eggs in which I didn't fancy too much anymore.   
  
"You're welcome. Eat up - I spent most of the morning making that." Popuri waggled a finger at me. Throughout breakfast, I remembered what Karen had done to me yesterday.   
  
"Popuri, have you ever been...uh...never mind." I couldn't bring myself to say 'rejected' because from the looks of it, she probably never had been.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing." My glasses slid down my nose to my annoyance. I pushed them back up and held them there with one hand while attempting to eat with the other.   
  
I had disposed of the Blue Feather that I had broken. Karen was just too demanding. Didn't she expect me to have any friends whatsoever? Next thing I know, she'll think I'd been making out with the chickens.   
  
"I'm not hungry," I said queasily, pushing away my plate. A certain pink-haired girl from across the table cocked her head inquiringly at me.   
  
"Why not? Is it that bad?"   
  
"No...I think...I ate too much last night." I answered her look with a clueless, wide-eyed stare.   
  
"Pffft...Sure." She set down her fork with a clatter and brazenly approached my plate, used my fork (to my horror) to taste my breakfast. She chewed carefully and swallowed. "It's not that bad, you know. Oh, well." She sat back down and eyed me warily.  
  
"Good bye, then." I headed out the door, breathing in the fresh, un-polluted air. But I felt so empty deep inside. Like a hole had been dug into the sand, but had never been refilled properly. I had to and apologize to Karen. So I worked my way to the Spring Mine with my handy hoe and hammer. I continued quite a way down until I was exhausted and my new rucksack was soiled from the many rocks I had stuffed in there. Finally, I uncovered a beautiful Pink Diamond on what seemed like the 100th floor. It sparkled, despite the fact that it was very dim inside the mine. Having strange feelings about the whole mine collapsing, I hurried back to the top of the mine, covered in dirt.   
  
"Finally," I whispered, clutching the Pink Diamond and dipping it inside the Goddess Pond. I was pleased when it came out looking it hadn't just been dug out of a mine. Not wanting the Harvest Goddess to pop out and take it, I placed it carefully into my rucksack right after dumping everything in it out except for a pearly-white Orichalc that I placed in a different pocket. There.  
  
I walked to the store, watching the kids run around happily and greeting me.   
  
"'Lo, Rick!" Stu shouted, waving at me and chasing after May.   
  
"Good morning," I replied, realizing that I sounded strangely formal.   
  
May screamed as he tackled her playfully and they both collapsed onto the grass, rolling about and laughing at an outrageously loud volume for just two little kids.  
  
The birds tweeted loudly, as though competing against the noise of the two children. I shook my head, chuckling at the duo whom were pushing each other off and galloping around joyously. Perhaps today was a holiday and I didn't remember?  
  
Entering the store, I saw Karen arrange something on the shelf that was haphazardly tilting towards the ground. She whipped around to see me. Her lips tightened and she turned back to what she had been doing just moments before. I approached her carefully, like they did on those animal-hunting expeditions.   
  
"What do you want?" She asked coldly, not turning to look at me. I reached hopelessly into my rucksack and pulled out the Pink Diamond, purposely pulling the zipper very loudly to get her attention. As she turned, I saw the reflection of the diamond in her eyes as she gazed at it with an incomprehensible look of wonder.   
  
"You should take it," I said plausibly, watching her actions. She reached for it and placed on hand on it. Then, as though recalling the events of yesterday, she jerked her hand back so quickly that the diamond slipped from my hand and fell to the hard ground. I held back a cry of despair as I picked up the diamond, which was not separated into three uneven shards.   
  
Karen didn't even look at me as the clatter rang out throughout the shop. Customers turned their heads, but my face just kept getting redder. A diamond shard glinted sharply at Karen's hair, which shone a lovely shade of blonde. But I walked away from her, placing the shards back into the rucksack and feeling them poke at me as I walked out of the store and past the bench Karen and I used to always sit on in the mornings. I ran my fingers across the top of it fondly, but it hurt too much to allow myself to sit on it...alone. The cedar wood looked old and worn, but I had a very deep-seated compassion for it. It was there that Karen and I had sat, talking about our lives together and apart. Tears gathered in my eyes, blurring my vision. I tried to brush them away, only succeeding in knocking my glasses out of place. I continued to walk around the town half-blind, looking at every face that used to familiar. Their features were now blurred, blending them to create a completely different person.   
  
Maybe I should just leave like Cliff did. But I had a family and he was just a vagabond looking for his. I couldn't imagine how angry he would be if he ever discovered that I had run away just because of a girl that I let push me around.   
  
My vision returned to me as I entered the Church. I had to get help, and Carter was the best person for the job. He'd handled situations like this before and I was sure he would be able to get me out of this jam.   
  
"Why, it's great to see you here, Rick!" Carter exclaimed, closing the Bible carefully, looking up from it.  
  
"Nice day, isn't it?" I said in a mock cheerful voice, gazing through the stained glass windows with interest. I had never really taken a good look at the patterns and designs.   
  
"Yes, it is," Carter answered in a grave voice. "Except there is another animal dead from Jazz Farm."   
  
I was shocked to hear this. Hadn't Jack learned his lesson? Sure, he was stubborn, but I never thought that he was actually the idiot I had thought him to be after that incident.   
  
"Anyhow, what would you need help with?" His voice echoed throughout the whole building. I gulped, not wanting to discuss Karen in this area.  
  
"Would it be all right if we go outside and talk about it? Please?" I pleaded.  
  
Carter sighed, stepping down from the pedestal, his footsteps resonating. "Whatever you please. I need to stretch my legs, anyway." He walked casually out of the church. I followed obediently.   
  
On the walk, I explained every single detail of my relationship with Karen to Carter. He was a man that anyone would be honest and open to. He nodded occasionally and sometimes let out an absent-minded "Hmmm..." or "Aah...".  
  
"And I can't get her to understand how I feel," I finished in a defeated voice.  
  
Carter rubbed his chin in deep thought. "It would seem that you are in a pretty tough spot, but there should be a way to soften you up. As in, not speaking that nervously towards any girls that you happen to know. Sound like you own them."   
  
I was shocked. "Own them...?" With my personal knowledge of myself, I would never be able to sound like I owned anyone but Popuri.   
  
"Of course! Speak in a strong voice. But that might make Karen think that you're involved in an intense relationship with them..." Carter shook his head disapprovingly. "You know what? Just tell her how you feel from a distance. You were going to propose to her, were you not?"   
  
"I was..."  
  
"Exactly. Tell her that. It's bound to make her listen. Ah, girls are hard to woo, aren't they?" The young priest nodded sagely. I'd never thought he'd say that.   
  
"Well, yeah. Especially Karen." I blushed.  
  
Carter laughed, flattening his hair (Not that it needed flattening) with one hand, his face tilted towards the sky. "How do you put up with her?"  
  
And on instinct, I spewed out my whole history with her.  
  
"I knew I'd dedicated my entire life to her, almost. We went everywhere with each other. Parents even teased us about being the youngest couple in the whole town."   
  
"Oh, I started that little joke. Hope you didn't feel too badly about it." Carter grinned defensively.  
  
"Nah, I don't. All it did was make me feel even closer to her...Did I pick the wrong person?"   
  
Carter turned towards me with a serious look, his eyes the shade of the ocean with the sun shining off of it. "Never question your love for someone. Okay, Rick? If you deny your love for someone forever, you'll never be able to love because you keep thinking that it's wrong to love someone. I'd best be going now." He walked off, his back as straight as a board. It sounded like he was mad at me. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.   
  
Walking back home, I heard the din of Stu and May (Again) and the sharp clicking noise of the diamond shards bouncing around in my rucksack.  
  
"Why the long face?" Asked my father, who happened to be holding the handle to a large contraption tightly.  
  
"Nothing," I fibbed, walking over to him. "What's that?" As I walked, I pointed at the machine with interest. That was when I heard a terrified clucking coming from the machine. I was beginning to get suspicious, as I only heard this noise when someone unknown came to the doorstep. Usually, it was when Won came to sell his merchandise, but then the clucking would be accompanied with yelling and scurrying sounds.   
  
Right now, father was looking peculiarly happy, clutching the handle like that.   
  
"This? It cuts off the heads of chickens. With this, Rick, we're going to introduce this whole town the glory of fried chicken!"  
  
-----  
  
I always like to add in a few 'side-stories' to keep the reader interested. If I just based this fanfic entirely on Rick and Karen's relationship, it would've only been about 5 chapters long. 


	14. Acceptance

**Lightning-Dono**: Good grief, look at all those reviews! o.o I'll answer them here as to not cheat and raise the review count. =P   
  
**Cassie **- It's okay. It's happened to me before and my computer is awfully slow, so you don't have to feel alone and stuff. Yes, you are making a lot of sense. I love doing that, bringing someone's character out. It's fun. (By the looks of most writers, they think Rick is like a talking board. I disagree.) Oh, and I'll try and add in what happened to the dead animal, okay? =) Most likely in the next chapter...Jack doesn't make an appearance in this one.  
  
**Xero **- Not to be offending, but I've seen that plot many times (with different characters, of course). Maybe you could open up an account and use it? I don't know, but I -will- take it into account and I might even use it sometime later on and put it into the original plot! (Rick -was- going to sink into depression because of Karen, though. =) Thank you for the idea!  
  
**EM **- She sure does! But you know, I always imagined her as pretty hot-headed (especially after I saw this one heart event between Rick and her) and I had to put it that way. And yes, I will keep writing! =D  
  
**Evil Scientist **- Yeah, I'm going to change my pen name to 'Update Machine'. Heh, thanks! I didn't think it was too good, but I've got inspiration!

**Ann Fan **- Aw, it made you want to cry? It's okay, I couldn't make it tear-jerking enough, though. =P  
  
Whew! That was quite a lot of reviews for...updating once or twice a day. Oh, well, on with the show!  
  
Since this fanfic is rated PG-13, will you guys allow me to let the characters have some language issues when they're angry? Just minor ones. I'm not going to put the eff word in or anything. o.o  
  
-----  
  
"What!?" I spluttered, watching as the head of the chicken popped through the hole at the bottom.   
  
"What do you mean 'What?"? This is the moment of fame we've been waiting for!" He gave the handle a practice jerk which made my heart stop.  
  
I knew I shouldn't talk to my own father this way, but I had to. "Maybe you've been waiting for fame, but I haven't!" I ran over to him and yanked his hand away. "Get away from my pets!"  
  
My father laughed, which annoyed me greatly.   
  
"Pets? Chickens are hardly considered pets, Rick! They're tools of business!"   
  
I frowned, considering this with thoughts of disbelief clouding my mind.  
  
"I won't let you."   
  
"Aw, come on! You can't cuddle these chickens forever!"   
  
Mom had obviously married the wrong man. Whatever made her marry him to begin with? The last thing I wanted to deal with today was some chicken murderer that lived in my house. I couldn't even look up at him and call him 'Dad'. He was more like 'stranger'.   
  
"Please? Just don't do it."  
  
He sighed in a pitiful way and let the chicken out. I gathered it up in my arms and set it back into the pen.   
  
"Whatever you say, son." He smirked at me and went into the house. When he was out of sight, I gave the machine a kick, which proved useless as my toes throbbed for the rest of the day.  
  
After dinner, I went up into my room, carrying the useless rucksack.   
  
Pulling out the jagged shards carefully, my hand shook slightly. Stupid Karen, ruining the moment like that. She fought with me too often to be natural. Everyone argues sometimes, but she dragged me into quarrels several times a week. I arranged the three shards in a semi-circle on my night table, admiring it for a bit. For a reason. Those three shards represented the three parts of my life. The innocent part, where I had run free and wild with my friends without a care in the world. The painful part that I was living through now where nothing goes the way I'd intended. And the future that I had so carefully planned out. I guess the future part was my problem. I couldn't plan my future like that - it just didn't happen that way.   
  
My door creaked open, a curl of pink hair appearing from the crack. Popuri stuck her head in. Who had given her permission to enter my room? What if I had been changing or something embarrassing?   
  
"Dad says he wants to talk to you," she informed me pleasantly. She had the makings of a successful businesswoman, being persuasive and informative like that. Plus, she was social butterfly.   
  
"I'll come down in a bit," I replied, sitting down on my bed with disgust. Blinking down at the diamond shards sleepily, began to wish that my dad had never even come back.   
  
"Rick, what has your mother been teaching you?"   
  
It was another lecture about respect, manners, and responsibility. Incase he hadn't noticed, I had to be responsible in his place while he was gone getting medicinal herbs and morphing into a goofball.   
  
"She taught me how to be friendly, respectful, and grateful," I recited like a school boy.  
  
He attempted to raise one eyebrow, which made him look like he was squinting with one eye. "That's all?"  
  
"Yup." I kneed the table, pretending to be bored.   
  
"Did she ever teach you about a word called 'permission'?"   
  
What was this getting at? Did he think I was some kind of dope? "She didn't have to teach me, actually. I went to school," I said coolly.   
  
"Now, don't you get all smart on your father, Rick."   
  
I was glad that my mom was upstairs in bed, reading a book. She did this every evening so she could get in some time for herself. But my father's voice could penetrate through anything - concentration, daydreams...anything.   
  
"What? That's the truth!"   
  
"Well, then, what gave you the permission to dent my machine?" He cast me a frightful look, leaning his face closer to mine. We were sitting on opposite sides of the dining table.   
  
I had to think of something to counter this and fast. "Who gave Popuri the permission to peek into my room?" I asked indifferently, copying his look.   
  
"Enough with your attitude. Tell me!"  
  
"How would you know if I had done it or not?" I was weakening.   
  
"I know you did it, Rick!"  
  
Sighing and pushing my glasses tiredly up my nose, I gave in. "Yes...I kicked it."  
  
"Ah-ha!" He stood up and pointed at me like a madman who had just won the lottery. "You are grounded, young man! No nightly outings for you! And you can't protect your chickens from me!"   
  
I wanted to get up and run around screaming that there was a lunatic in the house. "All right, then." I plodded back up the stairs, ignoring my dad's persistent grinning. Feeling sympathetic for my mother, I went to bed, hoping that the pain would soon end.   
  
"Rise and shine, Rick!" The curtains were opened wide and my mom was surveying my dresser with a critical eye. "Hmmm...We need to get you some new clothes. Would you mind if I went shopping with you this afternoon after you're done with the field work?"   
  
I reached blindly for my glasses, put them on, and frantically got out of bed. "Field work?"  
  
She nodded. "Father checked with Barley last night if you could go and work there for today as punishment for ruining his," she shuddered involuntarily, "machine.".   
  
I groaned as I waited for her to leave before changing out of my pajamas, which were a creamy sea green made from soft fabric.   
  
Breakfast was as dismal as ever. I tried to look cool and sophisticated while father grinned at me with more energy than ever before, if that was quite possible. I was about to leave when someone stopped me and laid their head on my shoulder. Popuri. Her hair tickled my neck, but I let her hold that position.   
  
"I feel sorry for you, Rick," Popuri whispered seriously into my ear, looking at me understandingly through those clear, ruby-red eyes.   
  
"Thanks...I hope I can handle it," I whispered back, waving to her as we parted.  
  
"Rick, your task today is to clean up the cow dung!" Barley told me as though this was the most thrilling thing in the world to do. Or maybe he was just glad that someone was finally going to complete the job.  
  
"Uh...Okay," I said in a small, overpowered voice.  
  
And let me tell you, this job was not fun. The oldest cow, a haggard one with fatigued-looking eyes stepped away from the brown goop lightly, like she was welcoming me to pick it up. I gingerly clasped the stuff in one gloved hand and dropped it into the bag.   
  
When I was done, I carried the bag filled with the revolting substance back to Barley for his approval.   
  
"You're doing fine!" He choked, shooing me away and coughing.   
  
By the end of the day, I smelled like someone who lived in horse manure. But what was even worse was what I saw once I arrived home.  
  
Only two of my five chickens remained. My rage returned as I saw my dad pluck the feathers from the body of a perfectly healthy chicken and throw them roughly down onto the ground, humming all the while. But he had grounded me, and I couldn't do anything about it besides want to resort to physical violence.   
  
"Do you think you've massacred enough chickens yet?" I asked pleasantly over dinner, watching father innocently. He paused, fork halfway to his mouth. It was coated with mashed potatoes without any of the familiar sauce that people usually at it with.   
  
"No," I replied. "I'll wait until they hatch chicks and then I'll kill the mothers once the chicks are at a reasonable size."  
  
Once again, I wanted to scream, but this time I wanted to jump on him and yank on his hair as hard as I could.   
  
"They don't deserve it," I said, my voice cracking in my attempt to keep calm. My heart started to beat much harder, making my face flush an unhealthy red.   
  
"Now, now, calm down, boys," mom said worriedly, watching my facial expression and the way my hand was shaking as I tried to eat something. I managed to get the fork into my mouth, but while I was chewing I bit my tongue. She knew how much I loved the chickens - why wasn't she defending me? "Rod, dear? Let's not talk about chickens right now. You know how upset it makes Rick." She reached over and patted my shoulder. I let her do it.   
  
Over the next few days, I grew into a feeble state. I was constantly moody and refused to go outside and make amends with Karen. I knew that she wasn't going to appreciate anything I attempted to do. In my boredom, I dubbed this mood a 'Jack mood'.   
  
There was a small knock on my door.   
  
"Come in."   
  
In walked Karen, anxious as ever.  
  
"How come you haven't come out to talk to me lately?" She asked, looking down at me with unknown concern.  
  
"I...I don't know," I admitted. It felt really stupid, actually. I should've come out and talked her out of her bad mood and start to make up again.   
  
"You don't? You look depressed to me." She leaned down and divided her hair evenly.  
  
I shrugged. "I suppose so. I've been wanting to...I mean, um..." I couldn't really put it in a good way to make her understand.   
  
"You're been wanting to do what?"  
  
"Remember when I took to you the area by Gotz's house?" My thumbs itched to start twiddling as always, especially when I got nervous.   
  
Karen nodded in a confused way.   
  
"I was going to..." I swallowed hard. "...propose to you."   
  
"You were?" Karen asked nervously, not knowing how to react. She looked out of place for a moment, as though she were an ant floating on a solid cloud.   
  
"Um...Yes." I indicated the broken Blue Feather lying in the trash can. Watching her glance down at the discarded feather, hope filled my heart. I started feeling warm again.  
  
Karen smiled mischiveously at me. What now? The mischiveousness faded almost immediately to fill with fervent feeling.  
  
"You don't need to propose. I accept."   
  
-----  
  
Oh, that was torture to write. x.x I've been having Writer's Block lately, but I pushed myself to write this because I want to continue it at a steady pace.   
  
I understand if you hated this chapter. =)


	15. Invitations

**Lightning-Dono**: My internet is going crazy right now, so I'm gonna sit my butt down and type in this fanfic! I'm going to try and make this as interesting as I can, okay? Bear with me here - The fanfic will draw to a close sometime close to the 25th chapter or so. Don't be surprised if it's shorter than this. This fanfic WILL live on! =P   
  
Then I'll go back to working on a long-forgotten fanfic: Drowning in a Nightmare. xD   
  
ANSWERS TO REVIEWS (If I don't reply to your review isn't on here, never fear, I'll put it on the next chapter!)  
  
**Ann Fan **- Drama...? I never thought that chapter was too dramatic, but thank you so much! I'm sure in good time you'll have...someone's updating consistency. Maybe mine? Someone better? I don't know, but I want you to continue your faaannnfffiiiiccc...And you've reviewed so much! 3 You! (You know what I mean)  
  
**EM **- Rod -is- awful. I think I'm kind of writing out his personality now with what I thought of him before. When I first played FoMT, I thought that he had run away from his family for some reason. And what would you think of a man who ran away from his own family. I think he's trying to act too young, personally. o.o She'll explain herself. =) It's all part of the fun.  
  
**A fan of harvest moon **- I don't know what you're thinking...What are you thinking? Don't tell me, though! Try to keep the thought in mind (You don't have to) until I reveal what Rick does to save the remaining chickens! I have it all planned out! =)  
  
-----  
  
I gasped. "You do?"   
  
Karen grinned, her dimples making their way onto her face as this grin stretched. "Nah, I was only kidding. Come on, you dork, of course I am!"   
  
"But...Why are you suddenly so nice to me?" My face fell, and so did my high-flying spirits.   
  
Rubbing her chin, she stared at the ceiling. "I couldn't bear to see you that upset again. I went home and my dad knew what was wrong...right when I got in there. He made me think everything over...And I realized I shouldn't have been so hard on you." She sighed, keeping her eyes glued to the. Was there something that interesting up there that she couldn't even look at my face? Even so, my spirits soared once again, and the sadness that fogged my eyes cleared.   
  
Right then, I felt like jumping up and squeezing her really tightly right around the neck. But I had a feeling that if I did that she would change her mind.   
  
"Oh, I love you Karen!" I gushed, bouncing up and down on the bed like a little kid. "Now all we have to do is make arrangements and tell our parents!" I wasn't quite sure that it was proper without the proposal item, but that didn't have to be worried about.  
  
At last, Karen removed her eyes from the ceiling. She inspected me with great interest, as though reconsidering her choices. "Yeah. But let's not rush into it like that."  
  
That hadn't been what I was expecting. I had been expecting a huge hug, a kiss, and some really sappy talk. Instead, it appeared that she had turned into an emotionless robot that was still computing all of this onto a data disk.   
  
"What do you mean? This is what I've been waiting for all my life!" That wasn't exactly the truth. I had always feared that I'd never have a wife, but certainly I had more things to wait for other than marriage. Suddenly, I began getting disturbing images of being scarred and bruised from an argument over who was going to cook dinner. It was the minor formality that the woman should cook dinner, but with Karen, who knows?   
  
"Yes, but I really don't want to have...uh...kids," she confided, avoiding my gaze. I suppose I could understand. "My mom said that when she had me she held onto my father's arm the whole time and screamed out her lungs. It just sounds too...painful."   
  
I was about to make some really corny joke about her mom's lung coming out, but instead I gave a small shrug. "We don't have to have kids." The images in my head changed into that of newspaper ads on abortion.   
  
"Good. Then let's go spread the news!" Karen yelled. If she had yelled 'Rick and I are getting married!' then I'd bet that we didn't need to spread the news at all.   
  
Karen and I proceeded to prancing down the stairs, Karen pretending to toss flower petals into the air.   
  
"Hello, kiddos! What's the big rush?" Asked father, greeting us with his usual smile. I wasn't about to buy this whole friendly act yet. He probably only acted this way when there was a guest around.  
  
"Your father came back?" Karen asked, confused.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"How come you didn't tell me?"  
  
"You were strangling me to death," I joked, giving her a playful push. Luckily, she was still good-natured afterwards.  
  
"We're getting married," Karen said, flushing a deep red out of humility towards my father.   
  
He looked like he was going to drop dead.   
  
"Are you guys for real?" He asked in what, to me, sounded like an overly excited voice. This could only mean trouble.  
  
"Yes, we're for real. Let's go." I dragged a disappointed-looking Karen away.  
  
"What was that for?" She demanded when we got outside.   
  
"He's only been trouble since he's come back. Plus, look!" I gestured towards the large machine with building anger.  
  
"What's that?"   
  
"It takes the head off of chickens." If I had the power to levitate through the emotion of anger, I'd probably have gone through the atmosphere by now.  
  
Karen's eyes widened. "That's terrible!" She strained her eyes to see the machine that was near the backside of the house.   
  
"You bet it is. Now let's go and tell your parents! When my mom gets back from the clinic, we can tell her! Or...My dad can tell her," I added with disgust.  
  
"All right!" We leapt down the road and through a crowd of people infront of the Inn admiring the new paint job and decoration.  
  
"WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!" Karen and I screamed as we passed by them. Anna shrieked in delight and ran over. I could almost imagine her in the Town Square, chatting away about how I had proposed so romantically to Karen. Of course, it'd all be her version of the story, in which she didn't even know the other half of.   
  
"Congratulations, you two!" She said, draping her arms over our shoulder.  
  
"Thanks!" Karen replied, grabbing my hand and pulling me away. Everyone else just stood there, gaping at us stupidly, opening and closing their mouths soundlessly.   
  
"Dad, we're getting married!" Karen screeched as we barged into the store, completely out of breath.  
  
"No," he replied flatly, as though he had been expecting this all along.  
  
I felt a sickening, plunging sensation in my stomach. "Why not?" I asked pathetically.   
  
Jeff looked up from the counter. "What? You guys aren't playing...house or something?" We shook our heads. Jeff's hair, which was so carefully slicked back, suddenly became a wild mass of black entangled vines. He was too busy jumping up and down to notice that it was making his hair go crazy.   
  
"Karen and Rick are getting married!" He exclaimed delightfully, hopping out from behind the counter and towards us. "Your mom will love this. She'll probably let you borrow her wedding gown. Oh, she'll be so thrilled!" I flinched as he leaned towards me and said this very loudly into my face. I didn't see the point of leaning towards me, as I wasn't going to be the one wearing the gown.   
  
"I'd hate to see how your mom reacts, then," I muttered towards Karen.   
  
"Heh," she said under her breath. "Well, dad, we'll spread the news around! And do some inviting!"   
  
"Wait!" Karen's dad leapt frantically to the counter, pulled a packet of pink stationary and handed it to us. At the very bottom it had a cartoonish drawing of Karen and I standing under a Sakura tree.   
  
"Uh, thanks?" I forced a very labored smile onto my face as he gave it to me. Jeff waved to us as we left the shop. Karen was staring at the picture in disgust.   
  
"Has he been planning this the whole time?" She wondered. "You know, my eyes are NOT blue. Is he color blind?"  
  
"Maybe he ran out of green paint or whatever he used," I suggested, glancing at the squiggly, thick clusters of hair he had drawn on my head with growing dislike.   
  
"Ran out of it on what?" She snapped. "I don't have blue eyes! And I'm his child, too." Karen's face lit up. "Well, he has his name at the bottom, so they won't think we drew it!"   
  
I let out a small snort of laughter. "Not like I could draw any better."  
  
We went to the beach and sat there on the benches by the unused stores and started on it. Luckily, I always carried around a pen or two, which saved us a lot of trouble.   
  
"Hm, we should invite our parents. But they'd come, anyway." Karen laughed, putting down the ballpoint pen she was holding. I pictured my mom getting an invitation and lecturing me about how she would come anyway and that it was a waste of stationary.   
  
"I suppose we should invite Stu and May..." I was writing down their names when Karen stopped me by pushing my hand off the paper, causing me to make a long, black line across the stationary.   
  
"Wait, Rick...I already planned this. Kind of. It's just something I've been planning over and over in my head. Maybe Stu can be the ring bearer and May can be the flower girl! They're certainly lighten up the mood!"  
  
I paused. Lighten up the mood? I pictured people gliding around the room with ecstasy, unable to sit down.   
  
"There's a thought! But we still invite them - we need to tell them in the letter."   
  
"Okay! I'll write one to May and you can do Stu."   
  
I looked down at the already printed 'M' on my piece of stationary. "I already put the 'M' down for May," I said, slightly irritated that she taking charge of things without much of my consent.  
  
"Fine, then."   
  
"Should we invite Zack?" I inquired, trying to think of lonely people.  
  
"But then Won will tag along," Karen pointed out intelligently brushing sand off of her vest.   
  
"Well, I suppose it's safe to invite Mayor Thomas. He only shows up at those seasonal events that are for everyone...He told me he's really lonely." I finished up May's invitation with a newly designed signature that I felt like practicing. It looked a bit girly, but it was pretty altogether.   
  
"Okay then. We should invite...Ellen." Karen started on Ellen's invitation.  
  
"At this rate we should just invite the whole town," I laughed, my handwriting appearing as a bunch of a shaky lines on the stationary. Karen glanced at what I was writing.  
  
"You write like a slob," she observed jokingly. I shrugged it off and continued to write.   
  
An hour or so later, we were finished and stuffing the stationary into light pink envelopes.   
  
"Is your dad's favorite color pink or something?" I asked, thinking about a wedding cake catered by him covered with pink and nothing else. The decoration of the couple at the top would be dressed in pink with pink skin. I shuddered.  
  
"No. He's a complete lovebird, though, if you know what I mean. He says he used to dream about writing romance novels when he grew up. Who knew that he'd be dishing out change to customers instead?" Karen carried some invitations in one hand and handed me some. "We'll meet up by Saibara's shop."  
  
After delivering the invites, I felt a bit guilty. Jack was left out of everything. He never won the cooking contests, he rarely got invited anywhere. I thought about this carefully as I stood by Saibara's window. Gray came out to see what was blocking his view out of the window.  
  
"Eh? What now?" He asked grumpily, throwing the door open.  
  
"I'm waiting for Karen," I said, pushing my hands into my pockets.  
  
"And why do you have to wait for her right by the window?" He sure was a rude fellow.  
  
"For your information, we're getting married and we were doing...stuff. I finished what I was doing and this was our designated meeting place."  
  
"Where's my invitation?" He glowered. How did he know about them?  
  
"We...weren't passing them out just yet," I lied, which added a whole new problem to my list of ones existing.   
  
Gray calmed down. "Well, I'll be expecting one!" He said, winking at me in a friendly way. He shut the door behind him.  
  
"Great," I mused, watching an ant crawl by my shoe.   
  
"You're quite fast," Karen panted as she arrived. "Okay, I'm done handing out the invitations. Let's go get dinner at the Inn!"  
  
I suspected that Gray must've heard her say that.   
  
-----  
  
And before you all start jumping to conclusions, yes, I am a girl, and no, I do not believe that the woman should always be the one cooking. = 


	16. Tuxedos, Eggs, and More

Lightning-Dono: The story is growing! =D And the reviews are making me want to write more!   
  
REPLIES TO THE REVIEWS (or that I've seen as I write these):  
  
A fan of harvest moon - That we be revealed VERY soon. As in...this chapter. I hope you're ready to read it! ;)  
  
Cassie - Aw, fried chicken is good! =( But I understand how it is. Rod is kind of out there...Not the best father out there, but Popuri doesn't really see anything in him that would make her hate him. I'm not planning any engagement breaking events down the line of Rick and Karen's future in this fanfic, but I might make a sequel (a short one) to Shattered Image, so look for that. Cliff moved out, so no Cliff...-mischievous grin- Ann doesn't show any more interest in Jack, but Rick does something VERY kind that might just heal their relationship...  
  
Ann Fan - I forgive you. That drama stuff was kind of...overly exaggerated. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think my writing is all that dramatic. I try. =) You shall update...=P  
  
-----  
  
After dinner, I walked home alone. In the dark. I was never a big fan of walking around outside in the dark due to the stories Karen had frightened me with while I was still in my tender years. But they wore off to create a small paranoia inside me.   
  
I stopped briefly before the chicken pen out infront of my house and peeked in at them to make sure they were comfortable. Tomorrow, I would have to take action, and for once, I actually knew exactly what I was going to do. For once, I would the hero to save the chickens, and a relationship that was partially hanging on the line.  
  
The next morning, mom was all over me, bubbling with excitement.   
  
"Oh, Rick, you're getting married!" She said with a mirthful laugh. All of this would probably form a good mood for me throughout the day. And that was good. "Here's a lovely white...um...tuxedo? Here." She handed it to me with a lot of effort as she was still trying to figure out what she should call it.   
  
"Thanks, mom," I said, wrapping my arms around her neck in a friendly hug. She returned it willingly and left the room.  
  
The chicken saving plan was going to happen.  
  
I ran to the clinic as fast as my legs would allow me. I was slightly encumbered by my stupid blue apron-like piece of clothing, but I tried.   
  
"I need a cage!" I panted loudly at Elli who was standing behind the reception counter, reading something off of her clipboard. She raised her eyes from the clipboard.   
  
"Whatever for?"   
  
"My dad's been butchering chickens and I really want to protect them. And for this to happen, I need a cage hat would fit about two chickens and still leave space for them."  
  
Elli nodded and disappeared into a backroom. She swiftly returned with a large cage, handing it to me.  
  
"I won't give you a fee, but you should return it. Actually, it's best if you do. One of the many cages here in Mineral Town." She smiled at me dryly. I left.  
  
When I arrived home, I gathered two very frightened chickens into the cage with great haste, lest my dad come out and make me confess what I was doing. I shut the cage closed, the chickens clucking loudly inside and scurrying around. If there was any space inside to do that, anyhow.   
  
I headed down to Jazz Farm, holding the cage away from me as to not bump it against my knees. It wasn't easy, carrying it directly infront of me. If someone had removed the cage from my hands and made me hold that position, I'd look like a zombie.   
  
Jack was outside watering some plants. He turned when he heard the clucking from behind him.   
  
"What are you doing here?" He asked bitterly, wasting a good bunch of water on one patch of dirt. Atleast he was working again, which was nice to know.   
  
"I-I want to tell you something, Jack," I said, a hint of guilt in my voice. "Sit down." I pointed towards some grass infront of me. Jack stepped over to it cautiously, as though his whole farm was a minefield. He then sat down. I set the cage down before him and knelt down behind it, almost like I was about to start some kind of sacrifice.   
  
"Jack, I want you to take care of these chickens," I told him tearfully. Why was I doing this? I was depriving myself of part of my only pride and joy in the whole world.   
  
He looked up at me as though I was joking. In truth, I wouldn't joke about something like this. "...Why?"   
  
"My dad's been killing them to make food dishes with the chicken. I want them to be someplace safe..." I held my breath and let it out in a soft Whoosh. "...and I want to be friends again." Jack's face suddenly seemed so much younger with the tension gone. My muscles relaxed considerably.  
  
"Okay...Thank you, Rick!" He grabbed the cage roughly by the handle. "Although...My sheep died not too long ago..." I thought he was about to spill tears over that, but he didn't. So that's the animal that died on his farm that Carter had been talking about! I prayed silently that he wasn't going to beg me for a sheep. Even though I was too afraid to admit it, it was his fault it died. Luckily, I didn't have Karen's sharp tongue or I would've blurted that right out.  
  
"Oh, I need the cage back," I said insensitively, not even commenting about his sheep. Jack nodded in reply and handed the cage back to me a few minutes later.  
  
"You can trust me with these little guys!" He told me gleefully, rubbing his hands together. I smiled at him.  
  
"By the way...Uh...this Saturday Karen and I are getting married and I want you ," I said nervously, clasping my hands together. He looked at me with a tempted look in his eyes, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to say 'Sure'. "I'd love it if you come," I said with vivacity.   
  
"Okay, then!" I could almost feel the darkness inside him lifting up into the clouds.   
  
"12:00 at the Church," I informed him cheerfully, nictitating. He winked back.   
  
"I'll be there. You can count on it!" He ambled quickly into his house. Shrugging, I walked out of his farm carrying the cage protectively.  
  
"Here you are, Elli," I said, setting the cage on the counter.   
  
"I'm glad you decided to return it," she replied in a monotonous voice, taking it off of the counter with a quick move of her hands.   
  
"Hi, Karen," I said, surprised. When I had walked into the store, she was walking around with her wedding gown on. She walked with the flair of a supermodel and the nervousness of a young lady at marriage.   
  
"Wow, I didn't even hear you come in!" She exclaimed, throwing the veil aside into her mother's arms. Sasha stared at Karen with anguish, as though wondering whether it was the right time for her to marry.   
  
I couldn't think of anything to say to that. "Uh, I'm pretty quiet," I said ineffectively, as she didn't notice.   
  
"My dad's going to make the cake! And he says he hasn't got the eggs to make it. Do you think you can give him some?"   
  
Once again, I was speechless. "I gave my chickens to Jack," I said at last. Karen's hand stiffened on my shoulder. Her face was peaked.   
  
"You what?" She yanked a milky white glove from one of her hands and thew it to the ground. "Why did you do that?"  
  
I hadn't expected her to understand, and neither did I expect her to resort to verbal abuse instead of physical. She jerked me backward by placing her hands on my shoulders and tugging hard. I stumbled backwards and turned to catch myself before I hit the ground.   
  
"I had to! Didn't you listen at all?"   
  
"Listen to what? You gave them away!" She yelled accusingly. I saw Shasha and Jeff standing in the corner whispering and shaking their heads at us.   
  
"My dad's killing them, if you don't mind!" I got up off the ground.  
  
Jeff walked over to us, his hands held up infront of him in effort to stop our fighting. Actually, Karen was the one doing most of the fighting. I was just trying to counter her words with effective responses.   
  
"Now, kids, let's be reasonable here," he said, offering both of us a warm smile. "There's no reason I can't just-,"  
  
"But he's not going to help with the wedding! If he seriously wants that on his conscience, let it be. No wedding!" Karen spat, nudging me hard with her elbow, which hit my waist. I crumpled up in pain as it made contact.   
  
"Of course I am! I'm doing the decoration!" I wondered if I should've said this. Surely my mom would be willing to help with the decor?   
  
"Fine, then. We'll have to call up Jack, if that's enough," Karen said in a stiff, pained voice, picking up the gloves and pulling them back on.   
  
"I'll do that," I assured her shakily, leaving the shop feeling both shocked and relieved.   
  
"Please? Can't you just spare us some eggs?" I wheedled, standing infront of Jack, shoulders slumped in a desperate pose.   
  
"How many?" He asked irritably.   
  
"A dozen would be nice."   
  
Jack cast me a stony look as he gathered a dozen eggs from his refrigerator. "Here." He handed the bag to me. Even though I didn't say so, this was a price for coming to the wedding.   
  
"Thank you," I replied, displaying the same coldness in his voice as I spoke.   
  
"Here you are." I gave the bag to Jeff, who peered into the bad with sheer interest.   
  
"Wow! Such good quality! I have to get started right away!" He hurried off into a room in the back and I heard pans and pots clattering inside. Karen was warming up to me once again. Hopefully she'd stay that way.   
  
"Who else are we going to invite?" She asked me, dressed in normal clothes once more. Approaching me, she smoothed down her blonde bangs.   
  
"Ann," I replied shortly, not leaving any room for argument. From the corner of my eye, I could see Karen's mouth drop open widely. But she didn't say anything.   
  
-----  
  
That was a pretty short chapter, but I wanted to leave the situation open. If too many things happen in one chapter, it'll be pretty hard to swallow. =) 


	17. PreWedding Fears

Lightning-Dono: Nothing to say, but that this and the next few chapters are going to be awfully fun, but stressful, to write. I've never been to a formal wedding before and I've never been married before (duurrrr...), so it's going to be hard for me to describe it. I'll try my best!  
  
Answer to the reviews:  
  
A fan of fire emblem - Have you jumped on that "the-word-'fan'-in-the-username" bandwagon, too? Just kidding. Hey, well, good guess, then! I suppose I made that a tad bit too obvious? I couldn't think of anything that else I could do.   
  
Ann Fan - You know you want to say 'drama'. =P It's okay with me. Besides, I've seen people doing this before, so I thought I'd do that instead of bringing up my review count. Yes, Karen seems moody, but she's just trying to hide her emotions. She's actually very excited and nervous about it.   
  
Heh, I wrote this while listening to 'Karenai Hana' and stuff, so don't mind of this chapter is all soft and...lurvey. =O   
  
I keep thinking of Rick with a mustache...Whyyy...  
  
-----  
  
It was a couple of days later. Today was the day. Kind of. The day before the wedding, that is.   
  
"Now, Rick, you have to be serious about this," my mom said with a serious tone as she laid a snowy white cloth over the reception table. As if I wasn't going to be serious about it anyway. Karen would practically freak out if I went and screwed the whole wedding up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Popuri admiring everything in the church with a highly suspicious look. I got an icy feeling in the pit of my stomach.  
  
"Yes, mom," I replied, even though my mind was floating in a different universe. May was skipping up and down the isle with her basket of flower petals, throwing them roughly into the air, only to succeed in making them hit the ground faster than necessary. Karen spotted this error and walked over to May with a warning look.   
  
"You toss them into the air like this." Karen demonstrated, and the petals twirled neatly through the air and landed on the newly polished pews. May nodded, more out of fear than understanding. "Oh, and alternate hands as you do it. I suggest you start off with your right."   
  
May decided to speak up. "Why?"  
  
This question shook Karen a bit, mostly to know that someone was daring to question her methods.   
  
"Well, because that's your strong hand, I suppose..." Her voice trailed off into an invisible void.   
  
I glanced over at another table where Jeff was just finishing up the cake, which was, fortunately, not completely pink. He squeezed just a bit more icing on the edge, not that it made a difference. No one would ever notice that there wasn't a clump of icing right behind the fake leaf of an artificial flower at the bottom of the cake. Nevertheless, he went cross-eyed and tried to fill it in perfectly. I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. Turning my head sideways, I caught a glimpse of Karen's perfectly placed eyeliner and her thin, dream-like eyelashes.   
  
"Stop spacing out, doofus, help us!" She tossed me a cluster of flowers. "Place these around the church. Here are some hooks that you can put on the wall. Just remove the piece of paper at the bottom to use the sticky part." She tossed me a small bag of hooks. "And hang the flowers on them." Indicating the small string attached to the bottom, she walked off to place hers on the side of one of the pews. Shrugging, I found an area that was isolated from all the other flowers. Ripping the bottom off easily, I placed the hook on the wall. I hung the flowers on at a different angle, hoping for a more abstract effect, but it fell limply into place. So much for that.   
  
"So, sport, how do you think the rehearsal went?" Father asked after a brief rehearsal of the wedding. The only problem was that I found it extremely hard to kiss Karen infront of the crowd of people. 'Crowd' being some parental figures and Carter. Eventually I managed to do it, only after tilting my head the wrong way, so Karen's forehead collided with my nose painfully.   
  
"Dammit," Karen had muttered, rubbing her forehead with one hand.   
  
"Let's try that again," I had whispered, horrified that our parents were watching us embarrass ourselves.   
  
I thought about all this and shrugged. "It didn't go too well, but tomorrow will be better," I promised foolishly.   
  
"Aw, it wasn't that bad!" Karen butt in, trying to sound pleased about how everything had gone.   
  
"How can you say that?" I asked, my nose still sore.   
  
"Well, aside from the fact that you leaned your head the other way, everything was fine," she pointed out discouragingly.   
  
"Uh-huh," I replied bitterly, still plagued by the fact that she blaming everything on me.   
  
"You know, I'm not very fond of kissing anyone in public. But if I can do it, so can you!" She pumped a fist energetically into the air.   
  
"Yeah...I hope I don't mess up tomorrow. I don't feel like getting a nosebleed and bleeding all over my suit." I grinned at her sheepishly. She smiled back.  
  
"You better keep hoping you won't mess up. That was pretty darn painful."   
  
She waved animatedly as she disappeared into the shop.   
  
Mom was absent-mindedly filling a vase with leftover flowers, humming.   
  
"You know, Rick, back in the day I used to be afraid to kiss your father," she reminisced thoughtfully. I wondered what she was getting at. Did my emotions influence everyone or something?   
  
"Really?" I asked, trying to sound attentive.  
  
"Yes. So you know what I did?" She laughed in a ditzy way as she remembered this.  
  
"What?"   
  
"I practiced. On a stuffed animal of some sort. Over time, I found it more comfortable."   
  
I wondered what she was getting at.   
  
"What are you...saying?" I gulped. She turned towards me, drying off her hands with a towel.  
  
"What I'm saying is that you looked terrified up there. You need to have confidence and know what you're doing." I blanched. Did she expect me to sit in my room for hours on end kissing a stuffed animal? "That's why-,"  
  
"Do I have to?" I interrupted. Popuri snickered behind me.   
  
She cogitated upon this for a bit. "Well, no, but it was just a suggestion," she said at last in a voice of pure exasperation.   
  
I let out a sigh of relief and started to set the table while Popuri worked on her growing scrapbook. Peering over her shoulder, I noticed that each page was color-coordinated with the colors purple and brown. It gave me a sick feeling about Kai. She glued a picture of Kai and her onto the purple page fondly and pressed it down firmly.   
  
"What?" She said when she realized that I was there.  
  
"Nothing," I replied, placing a dish carefully at each place at the table.  
  
"You have something against Kai, don't you?" She said, steering this little conversation into a wider and rougher territory.  
  
"No." I felt my face grow hot with anger. My voice didn't sound all that controlled, either.  
  
"Yes you do," she insisted. Now she wanted me to hate Kai? At one point in time I might've taken kindly to this and admitted it without a fight, but somehow my methods had changed over the course of a few months. My temper bubbled over the line.   
  
"Yeah, well, just shut up about it!" I said loudly. Mom turned her head.   
  
"Rick!" She said wearily. I closed my mouth, violent thoughts crossing my mind. Popuri was silent as she rustled through her little photo album.   
  
Throughout dinner, everyone sat there stiffly, hardly touching their food. Well, father was a blatant exception.   
  
"Congratulations, Rick," he said thickly, his mouth filled with the apple pie that mom had made for dessert.   
  
"Thanks," I mumbled, raising the cup of fresh milk up to my mouth slowly, intending to take a sip. He thought I was accepting a toast somehow. I swear that this guy is just too dense to be true. Reaching over the table, he knocked his cup into mine. How much beer had he had? The milk splashed soundlessly onto my face and clothes. Popuri gave father a disgusted look and grabbed a towel to aid me. I welcomed her help as she handed me the towel to wipe my face off on.   
  
"Oops! Sorry, there." He chuckled, to my displeasure, and continued to eat as though nothing had happened.   
  
After that ridiculous incident at the table, Popuri and I shared a very open loathing for him.  
  
"Popuri?"   
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Can you invite Ann to the wedding please?" I was fumbling through the drawer for stationary, just incase Ann somehow forgot.   
  
"Sure. I'll just tell her." Popuri walked out of the house and I heard her run to the Inn, despite the darkening sky that was streaked with the colors from the setting sun.   
  
I sat back down on the chair, exhausted. I still had a white streak on the sleeve of my shirt, thanks to my father, but I ignored it.   
  
"Well, tomorrow's the day," I told myself quietly, breathing rapidly. "It's not even time and I'm already excited," I laughed, getting up and neatly pushing in the chair.   
  
Popuri came back into the house with a natty grin. "She's going to come!" She exclaimed breathlessly.  
  
"Good! We'll have a full house...er...church tomorrow."   
  
All I needed for tomorrow now was a couple of miracle and some luck.   
  
-----  
  
There you are! I rushed a bit on this chapter because I absolutely can't wait to write about the next day! I thank this fanfic for getting me out of Writer's Block! ((clings)) 


	18. The Day of Truth

Lightning-Dono: Okay, some answers to my purdy reviews. =D  
  
A harvest moon fan - That's okay, I could tell it was you because of that chicken thing. Uh...Rick wants a miracle to happen, there aren't any miracles going on. But I suppose he will have a brilliant stroke of luck...somehow. I don't generally update every single day, but I try.  
  
EM - Nothing's perfect...But I want the wedding to be happy, so maybe there will only be a few mess ups or something that's not exactly pleasant to one person. I don't know.   
  
-----  
  
I woke up fresh the next morning.   
  
"Hurry it up, Rick!" Popuri rushed, gawking at me enviously. I didn't know what there was to be jealous of as the suit was absolutely strangling me around the neck. "Four hours until the wedding!"   
  
Four hours? Then what was the rush? I had to comb my hair, at any rate. I could be a part of the wedding just sloppily wearing a suit with hair that looked as though I had stuck my finger into an electrical socket.  
  
"Sure," I mumbled back at her. She vanished into her room and reappeared wearing a stunningly white dress. It didn't exactly look right against her bright pink hair, but I decided not to comment.   
  
"Oh, Rick, I'm so happy for you!" She exploded, wrapping her arms around me in a very tight embrace. It was more like I was marrying her rather than Karen.   
  
"Thanks." I tried to comb my hair down. "You can let go of me now."   
  
"Yes." She flushed a brilliant shade of red. "I-I don't know what I was thinking." Shaking her head, she walked down the stairs, hitching up her dress in a lady-like way. I doubted that Karen could even bear to do that for a second.   
  
Moments later, we were walking as a very fashionable group down the road, father constantly pulling at his bow tie in distress.  
  
"This is so tight!" He gasped, glancing in the direction of his wife for consoling.   
  
"That's the way it should be! You wouldn't want it to slip down to your waist, now, would you?" She said for the hundredth time. He looked slightly offended, but his complaining stopped.   
  
"Rick!" May screamed, prancing up to us, waving her basket around wildly. Flower petals scattered around her. "Oops," she mumbled. Stu jumped up behind her and gaped numbly at the mess of petals infront of him. I was staring at the mess in blatant horror at first.  
  
"Never mind it. We have plenty of time to get more flower petals at the church," I said quickly to the young girl who was quickly losing self-confidence.  
  
"Okay!" She replied, recovering from the shock. Mother nodded approvingly and we continued on with added members to our party.   
  
We walked by Saibara's place. My only hope was that Gray didn't come out right then. Well, everything would've gone perfectly if May hadn't been wearing a bright red kimono and Stu and dark blue suit with a large, yellow polka-dotted bow tie to accompany it. Gray popped out from the open door.   
  
"So, where are you all going on a day like this?" He asked in a falsely cheerful voice.  
  
"We, uh, we're going to my wedding?" I turned back to my parents, the forces of authority. They didn't do anything to defend me.  
  
"Why didn't you invite me?" He demanded in a hurtful voice. There was a brief pause as I thought about this. I couldn't find a single reason why I hadn't, except that I had completely forgotten.   
  
"I don't know," I replied at last, my voice cracking. Gray's look bore through me like a vaccination needle.   
  
"Oh, so you don't know?" He said slowly, shaking his head and re-adjusting his cap. I raised my hands up to try and halt him from walking back into his shop. "No, no, it's okay," he said simply, his voice an octave higher and thinning. "I just thought I'd see if I could come." Without even looking back at me, he stepped into the shop and slammed the door in my face, casting me an evil look before doing so. Popuri waited until we were out of hearing range from Gray when she rounded on me.   
  
"That was so tactless!" She breathed angrily, standing infront of me defiantly.  
  
"What was?"  
  
"You didn't even bother to invite him to the wedding! That was !" Popuri looked ready to tear me to bits. So was the revelation about Kai over? What did she do; jump on the 'I-love-quiet-guys' bandwagon and start worshipping Gray?  
  
"What did you want me to do?" I said, not even bothering to look at her.   
  
"That-,"  
  
Someone stepped between us. Father.   
  
"Enough, kids," he said firmly. Atleast he had gained some sense after Popuri had lost hers. Popuri moved to the back of the group and sulked their for the rest of the walk.   
  
"I'm glad to see you all today! Smiling...happy..." Carter caught a glimpse of Popuri's moody expression. He gave her a Look. "Yes. Now, if you would all kindly step inside the church, it'll begin in two hours and thirty minutes. Please use this time to prepare for the wedding reception." We all nodded in unison. Looking around, I saw that Karen hadn't arrived yet. So to pass the time, I guided May over to a corner, plucking flower petals from the hanging bouquets cautiously as I went.   
  
"Here," I said quietly, pouring the petals into her basket with the remaining ones. "Don't lose these, okay?" May smiled and shook her head.   
  
Mom was busy handing Stu the ring mounted on top of what looked like a pillow.   
  
"Balance it on here, okay?" I heard her saying, handing the pillow to Stu so he could practice.   
  
Moments later, Karen made her grand entrance to the church.   
  
"The bride has arrived!" She announced loudly, twirling her dress around like a dancer. Everyone turned to see her come in, not exactly the greeting she had been expecting. "What?" She said irritably to the numerous pairs of eyes that had suddenly averted their gazes to meet hers.   
  
"Here comes the bride, fair fat and wide," Stu said in a singsong voice. If he had been any older, Karen would've unleashed her fury upon him. Instead, she watched me expectantly. In reply, I walked up to her and tried to guide her gracefully around the pews towards the wall. It looked more like I was dragging a wagon behind me.   
  
"Here." I let her sit. She looked more stimulated than ever. Her face was a bright pink and her teeth were a dazzling white.   
  
"Oh, Rick, this is SO awesome!" She expressed, pulling stray strands of hair up into the bun that was perched neatly on her head. I nodded in agreement as I sat down next to her, pulling on my collar in an attempt to widen it.   
  
"It'd be even better if my collar wasn't so...tight!" I choked. Glancing at my throat, she noticed what was wrong right away.  
  
"You don't need this buttoned up all the way, right?" She said, unbuttoning the top-most one. I let out a relaxed breath.   
  
"Thanks," I sighed, removing my glasses and cleaning them.  
  
"Aren't you excited?" Karen asked testily, watching me breath slowly onto the lenses of my glasses and rubbing them with my sleeve.  
  
"Of course I am!" I replied exuberantly. "How can you expect me not to be? I mean...This is just...Wow."   
  
Karen smiled understandingly. "But I'm scared," she confided once more.  
  
"What now?"  
  
"I already told you this before...But...I don't want to have a baby. You're not expecting that are you?" She gripped my shoulder painfully.  
  
"No. I just want you to be happy."   
  
Karen's joy leaked from her grin. "Okay, then it's all good. I'm ready..." She leaned her head on my shoulder and her golden curtain of hair fell from the bun on her head. "Drat." She sat straight up again and re-assembled her hair.  
  
The clock struck twelve in the afternoon.   
  
"This is it," I whispered, almost jumping off the pew.  
  
"Okay, we have to go over there...right?" Karen led me in a confused beeline to our places. Jack burst in noisily through the doors at the last moment and collapsed on a pew towards the front. Carter frowned at him, but launched into a lengthy speech. If I hadn't been quite so excited it might have plunged me into a deep stupor, but it soon ended and lightly played wedding music began. I was too surprised by this sudden movement that I nearly stumbled into Karen, who was standing infront of me.   
  
"Watch it!" She whispered sternly. I nodded nervously. This had to be the strangest set-up in the world. Carter and Rod had decided to make things look prettier and more attractive.   
  
Jeff ushered Karen in the isle with me following. He handed her a neat bouquet of flowers. I got on the other side of Karen where there was actually space and she clutched my hand tightly. But as I looked at her, it appeared that she was enjoying this very much, even if her grip was steadily tightening. She smiled serenely up at me and I did the same to her, even though I had a hidden urge to burst out laughing at my foolish attempts to stay calm.   
  
May followed behind us, tossing the flower petals into the air with a little hop every so often to accompany her walking. The petals that were shades of pink, red, and light violet showered gently over us and floated over to the audience.   
  
As we stepped onto the first step towards Carter, we turned to face the audience, only slightly sideways. Popuri watched me with excitement and envy. At this time, Ann crawled slowly out of her seat (despite her dress), and went over to where Jack was sitting. Jack looked surprised for a second, but he wasn't stupid; he knew what was going on right away. He glanced up towards me and gave me a huge smile.   
  
May walked towards the side and sprayed the members of the spectators towards the front with what was left of the flower petals in her basket.   
  
Carter started to talk about the importance of dedication to one's partner of marriage and such. This was Stu's cue to start walking slowly towards the front. Stu, who always took everything to the extreme, appeared to be walking in slow motion. Everyone glanced at him with amused looks. Carter looked down at Stu, who was still halfway there and decided to extend his already irksome speech. Karen let out a barely noticeable groan.   
  
Eventually, Stu arrived towards the front. I lifted the ring from its cushion. The audience held it's collective breath. Carter began talking about something else that I didn't have the heart to listen to. I was captivated by the kind look Karen was giving me and the audience that apparently seemed as energized as I was. It felt like a magical moment where everything is just hanging and everyone waits for something to happen. Trying to breathe normally, I slipped the ring onto Karen's awaiting finger. The pastor was thrilled and he started to say something. Once again, the audience held its breath, to my annoyance. But it served as a hint that we should be doing something now. The organ stopped playing the merry tune that it once had been. An uncomfortable silence followed.   
  
"This is it," Karen whispered for my ears only. I nodded. I tilted my head the way I was supposed to and closed my eyes. I felt something make contact with my lips and felt like spitting something out, but I didn't. Everyone cheered loudly, Ann absent-mindedly ruffling Jack's hair; Popuri jumping up and down and yelling something; Jeff, Sasha, my mom and dad clapping loudly; Carter smiling his usual smile; and Karen and I stuck in one pose. I moved myself and we ended the kiss that seemed to last longer than necessary. Nevertheless, it felt good to get it over with and it also felt good to know that Karen and I weren't going to apart again.  
  
"Wait up, folks!" She shouted above the din of everyone talking at once. The members of the reception turned. "I'm going to throw the bouquet!" She stepped towards the audience and threw it into the air. For a second, I thought the whole thing was going to fall apart, but the flowers stayed bound together. The bouquet dropped and Ann caught it.   
  
"I caught it! I caught it!" She shouted, jumping up and down like a lunatic.   
  
While this happened, Karen teetered unstably from the steps and I helped her down.   
  
"I hate these high-heels," she grimaced, limping towards the reception table, only to be plowed over by family members launching hugs upon us.   
  
Popuri let out a wail that sounded happy. "That was great! I can't wait to get married, now!" She exclaimed, throwing herself onto me. Jack seemed to have forgotten that we were just friends and not formal acquaintances. "Congratulations," he told me solemnly, shaking my hand.   
  
"Come on, Rick!" Karen hauled me away mid-shake towards the reception tables. "Before they eat everything!"  
  
We managed to come out alive from the noisy crown with some cake. We sat down at one of the long tables that had been set out and Karen got a very mistrustful look.  
  
"Hey, Rick, over there!" She screeched. I turned my head towards where she was pointing and she smashed me into my cake. At first I was enraged until I remembered that it was all part of the fun. Laughing, I wiped the white substance off of my face onto a napkin.   
  
"Nice one," I grinned, still wiping off the frosting.   
  
"Thanks. Oh, I'll get you other slice of cake," she added guiltily, looking at the remains of my cake.  
  
"That's okay, I can get one myself." I got up slowly, feeling slightly disorientated. Karen grabbed her purse and whacked me with it.  
  
"Oh, come on! I'll get it for you! It's my fault." With that, Karen stormed off. I hope that I hadn't just spurred another fight.   
  
"After-wedding fights, eh, Rick?" Said a voice from behind me. I whipped around, alarmed. It was only my father, drinking something.   
  
"Well, she smashed my face into my cake," I said.  
  
"She's a pretty fast gal. I like that. Rick, would you listen to me if I told you this?"   
  
"Tell me what?"  
  
"I'm sorry about doing those awful things to you," he apologized. "I guess I wasn't the best father in the world right then. I lived without children for so long that I treated you more like you were my age." He rubbed his hands together hopefully. I nodded for him to go on. "And...you know...Now I can't make it all up to you." He sighed depressingly and took a swig of the thing inside the bottle he was drinking. I had a strong suspicion that it was beer.   
  
"It's okay," I said simply, not knowing what else to say to comfort him. Karen came back with a slice of cake balanced on a plate.   
  
"Here you are," she said sweetly, slipping it on the table.   
  
"Thanks," I replied.   
  
Father continued, "But...What happened to my chickens?" he asked in a low voice.   
  
"They weren't your chickens," I pointed out.   
  
He shrugged. "I don't care. What happened to them?"  
  
"I...uh...gave them to Jack. I didn't want you to kill them anymore, dad! It's not fair!" I remembered the horrified clucking, the silence after he cranked the handle, the head of a defenseless animal rolling onto the ground...It was unbearable.   
  
"Yes, yes, I understand. Well, have fun!" He waved to me and went off to talk to the other men attending the reception. The Mayor was exceptionally fat for only eating some cake, but it was soon revealed that he had been hiding some of it in his pockets that were inside of his jacket.   
  
"Hey, Rick," Karen voice said from behind me with an unusually dreamy quality to it. I caught the scent of beer and turned.   
  
"I thought I didn't want you to drink that stuff anymore," I said reproachfully. Karen shrugged.  
  
"We're having fun, remember?" She downed the rest of the contents and thrust the bottle onto the table. "Who doesn't like the taste of beer?"  
  
I chose not to answer that question, as I had never thought to drink beer. Although I did remember when I was younger I had wanted to and after tasting the bitter liquid I had fought to stay away from it.   
  
When we left, it was three in the afternoon, and we were all exhausted.   
  
"We have to make arrangements of where to live," Karen explained to me as we left the church, showered by flower petals that everyone had ripped off of the flowers on the wall.   
  
"Phteah," I spat as a flower petal landed in my mouth as I opened it to speak.   
  
"What was that?" Karen asked sharply.   
  
"Something got in my mouth. Anyway, we'll have to talk about it later."   
  
The crowd behind us rushed out and threw stuff such as seeds and grains of rice.  
  
"Oh, fun," Karen said good-naturedly, catching some and throwing them back. Jack ran up playfully and attached a 'Just Married' sign to our backs. We left it there, although it was quite uncomfortable to walk with.  
  
But the sign displayed the truth, we were newly-weds, and proud.  
  
-----  
  
I'm sorry if that was so bad! It took me 2 days to write because I had to plan everything out. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! 


	19. Authoress' Note!

**Lightning-Dono**: It's time I brought this fanfic to an end. TT.TT I'm sorry to leave you all hanging, but never fear, I WILL WRITE A SEQUEL...The sequel should be called "Dissipating Sorrow", so if you see that fanfic floating around in the Harvest Moon section and in the description is says 'Sequel to Shattered Image', you know it's what you've been looking for. 

Now, first things first. I'm SO glad that you guys helped me for this fanfic. You got me back up on my feet when I needed that support and I got through to 18 chapters, thanks to you. (This being the 19th, which really isn't a chapter) I love you all! Er, you know what I mean.

A special thanks to:

-**Ann Fan **- She read EVEERRRYYY chapter and reviewed them, and to my delight, I found that she also enjoyed them. Thank you SO much! If you're all reading this right now, I WANT you to read her fanfiction, okay? They're too awesome to be overlooked.

-**A fan of harvest moon/fire emblem **- You're awfully good at predicting my plans, but thanks for the advice! I'll try to be less predictable and such. Thank YOU for giving the advice that I needed along the way.

-**Cassie** - Your comments are fun to read! It's like a little snippit of what you like about the fic and how it affects you. xD You're awesome! You should make an account, okay? Promise me just that and I will be happy. oO;

-**Evil Scientist **- (Your username reminds me of Invader Zim. Anyhow...) You got me to focus on Rick and Karen's relationship, and look what happened! ((squeal)) Thank you for getting me back on track when I needed to, and best of luck on your fanfics!

-**RuRu** - I never answered your question. ;-; I've never played the one for N64, so I wouldn't know what Rick looks like there. If you visit my bio, there's a link to my site and if you can find it, there's a section with Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town screenies that I took myself.

-**gabriele11** - I OWE MUCH TO YOU...As I do everyone else. Anyway, you told me what Rick's father's name is! You rock! Without you, Lilia would be blunt whenever it comes to what she would say to Rod.

_**NOW, I need your help. I SERIOUSLY do.**_

I've never known where Rick and Karen live after they are married, and if you can review here and tell me, I will forever be in debt to you...uh, forget that. BUT, I will love you forever! (Such a good bribe...) If no one knows, I have an idea, but first I want the straight facts, okay?

Meanwhile, read other people's fics, or mine if you're interested, and pay attention, because Lightning will strike back! xD

Love y'all!

--Lightning-Dono, your beloved...er...generous authoress that has been able to bring you this fanfic and a sequel that is in progress--


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